Steven Universe Secret Wars: Battleworld
by lightyearpig
Summary: Following a heavy loss as a result of the titanic battle against Thanos, both the Avengers and the Crystal Gems are torn apart out of grief. But when Thanos reassembles them to fight to the death on his personal Battleworld, Steven, Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl are now in for the fight of their lives.
1. Disassembled

_AN: So, anyone excited for new Steven Universe this April along with all the Marvel movies releasing this year? I certainly am! Welcome one and all to Part 2 of Steven Universe Secret Wars. Lives will be put at risk, friendships tested, and despised enemies become unlikely allies! It's going to be so much fun! But I'm getting bit too excited here, let's get on with the show!_

* * *

 **Steven Universe: Secret Wars**

 **Part 2: Battleworld**

 **Chapter 1: Disassembled**

"If I could begin to be, half of what you think of me, I could do about anything, I could even learn how to love." Loki Laufeyson, the God of Lies and half-brother of Thor Odinson, half-heartedly harmonized in his prison cell on the mothership of Thanos the Mad Titan.

It had only been a while since he failed to retrieve the Mind Stone from a little Midgardian town known as Beach City thanks to the efforts of his enemies the Avengers and their new comrades the Crystal Gems. Instead of executing him, Thanos had him locked away on his ship until further notice and now he was just biding his time. "When I see the way you act, wondering when I'm coming back, I could do about anything, I could even learn how to love like you. Love like you."

"Cease your music Frost Giant." a deep voice snarled as its owner stood before his cell. This was none other than Thanos, who had only recently finally obtained the six infamous Infinity Stones and tested it out on the Gem Homeworld and their monarchs. "Besides, you have a new cellmate."

He tossed his adopted daughter Nebula into the same cell as him and shut the door before walking away. "Wait Thanos, didn't you say you would give me a second chance?!" Loki cried clinging onto the bars. "I said no such thing Loki. But perhaps there is a chance for you to redeem yourself." Thanos stated before turning around and showing him a hodgepodge of many Gem shards merged together into one contained within an energy orb. "Are these..." the Frost Giant wondered before his master cut him off. "Yes indeed Loki, collected them from the Gem Homeworld itself. And I have an idea on how you can use them."

* * *

Meanwhile back on Earth, the alliance between the Crystal Gems, the Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy continued to mourn the near-death of Steve Rogers, aka Captain America. Young Steven Universe was weeping in the arms of Tony Stark aka the invincible Iron Man. The Incredible Hulk had regressed back into his human form of Bruce Banner to comfort his teammate Natasha Romanoff, the Black Widow. Hawkeye simply gave Pearl a sorrowful pat on the back. Garnet tried to keep her usual composure before breaking down and the rest just hanged their heads in shame.

"We could've stopped this. One of us could've stopped him and destroy the Gauntlet." Tony muttered letting go of the boy to look over his friend. "I know, but this is something Steve would've done. He could've sacrificed himself for the good of everyone in the universe." Pearl stated wiping her tears away. Just then, the people of Beach City began driving into town again as a large helicarrier hovered over them. A small Quinjet flew out of the aircraft and landed before the heroes. Out of the jet came two people, Nick Fury the director of S.H.I.E.L.D and his trusted confidant Maria Hill. "Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl."

"Old man Fury, is that you?" Amethyst gasped at the sight of him. "I cannot believe you're still alive either. Last I heard from you, I thought Homeworld finally caught up but look where we are." Fury stated. "I've been keeping an eye on you since the Chitauri invaded this town, right Quill?" he said gesturing toward Star-Lord. "Uh, yeah! He totally had eyes on you since then!" the space cowboy nervously chuckled. "Okay to be honest, I had no idea what was going on with him."

"Okay, what's the damage here?" Maria wondered moving toward Rogers' comatose body. "We believe Miss Hill that our friend has had a near-death experience in the hands of Thanos." Doctor Strange replied. "Believe?! We all saw it before our eyes you caped clod!" Peridot shouted catching the S.H.I.E.L.D agent's attention. "So you must be the Gem that interrupted those broadcast signals a while back." Maria said kneeling down to Peridot's height. "Kind of expected you to be taller."

"That was the old me, this is the all-new all-different Peridot!" the little green Gem snickered pridefully as a group of paramedics wheeled the out-cold captain onto the jet. "Okay everyone, time to go!" Nick called for the Avengers to get on board. "Actually, could we make a quick stop in Wakanda first? My people need me." Black Panther suggested. "Very well then. The rest of you, get on!"

One by one, Earth's mightiest heroes began to say their farewells and condolences to the Crystal Gems as they boarded the aircraft before suddenly, Amethyst started following them. "Wait, where are you going Amethyst?!" Steven cried after her. "Oh yeah, about that." the Kindergarten quartz nervously said. "After what happened with Thanos, I just feel like maybe he was right. We pretty much failed our mission so now it's time for me to find a new one."

"Amethyst, you're being irrational here! Thanos may have broken us all emotionally but that's no reason to leave Beach City!" Pearl firmly chided her shorter comrade. "I know but after what Thanos did to us, I'm pretty sure we failed in what Rose wanted us to do: protect Earth!" Amethyst shouted looking like she's about to cry. "Guys please, no need to fight." Garnet said trying to stop their argument. "Okay, you're right Amethyst. We did fail in defending the world." Pearl finally accepted. "Which is why I'm leaving too, with Doctor Strange."

"Oh, can I come with you too Amethyst?! I always wanted to see how Earth superheroes fight!" Mantis exclaimed. "Okay man, you can come." the purple Gem said. "Oh come on Mantis, you're leaving us too?!" Star-Lord complained. "We're just breaking the fellowship here, aren't we?!"

All the heroes began arguing amongst themselves except for Steven who just looked on in worry, Thor looking off into the horizon and Peridot who walked over to Lapis with a concerned look on her face. "Well at least we're still together right Lapis?" she asked her roommate, who simply didn't reply before staring at Thor. "I fear I will have to leave Midgard for a while, to search the other Eight Realms for a way to stop Thanos." the god of thunder mused to himself. His thinking suddenly caught Lapis's attention and she stepped forward next to him. "Can I come too?"

"WHAT?!" The arguing halted immediately when they heard Lapis ask Thor to accompany him. "Why did I have to open my big mouth?! Peridot screamed marching up to her. "Listen P, when I came back to Earth I was told I can be free from Homeworld if I fight them. But Thanos is on a whole other level!" Lapis explained her decision. "He could be out there somewhere wreaking havoc across the cosmos and pretty soon, Earth will be next!"

"I understand you want be as far away from Thanos as possible Lazuli, but look around." Thor stated. "Your comrades are here to support you, and always have been." Lapis smiled sadly but she had already made her decision. Walking over to Steven and Peridot, she gave them a bittersweet hug that seemed to last for quite a while. "I'm sorry you two, I promise I'll be back when this all blows over." Letting them go, she moved to Odinson's side and shook her head in confirmation. "Verily then." Thor said before raising Mjolnir skyward. "HEIMDALL, OPEN THE BIFROST!"

With that, a bright ray of rainbow light crashed down on the duo and when it disappeared, only an Asgardian symbol was left ingrained in the sand. After more silence, Peridot tip-toed towards it before dropping to her knees in tears. "I just got you back Lapis! Why do you have to leave me again so soon!" Steven moved to his green friend's side and gave her a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Oh dang, sorry about Lapis Dot." Rocket apologized putting his paw on the other shoulder. "But hey, least it can't get any worse!"

"Well, guess it's decided then." Tony finally stated. "Avengers, disassemble." It was finally settled, this ultimate alliance between the Crystal Gems, the Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy was no more.

He, Banner, Romanoff, Barton, Mantis, Peter, Danvers, T'Challa, Hank & Janet began boarding the Quinjet away from Beach City back to New York while Pearl & Amethyst hugged their young teammate farewell. "No matter how far away we all are Steven, we'll always love you." the former servant said before she left with Strange through a portal while Amethyst became the last to board the jet and it took off, leaving Steven, Garnet, Peridot and the Guardians sans Mantis behind in front of the temple. Then Steven turned to Garnet. "You're not going to leave here too, right?"

"Of course I won't Steven, you know I would never abandon Beach City." the fusion confirmed kissing him on the forehead. "I'm gonna go back to the barn to check up on Pumpkin. I'll see you later." Peridot said her own goodbyes walking into the beach house and disappearing on the warp pad. "And we're gonna follow her just to be safe." Star-Lord added boarding the Milano. "Farewell young Steven, until our paths cross once more." Drax said while the rest followed suit.

* * *

"He was right, it did get worse!" Peridot sobbed looking upon what was once their barnhouse home, now in complete shambles. "Why is it that bad things mostly happen to me?!" Just then, she heard an excited yip that could only belong to Pumpkin. "Pumpkin, oh thank the stars you're still alive!" she cried as the orange canine rushed into her arms before an Outrider popped out of nowhere and swiped at the two, only to be immediately killed by Yondu's arrow. "Damned Outriders, this must be their handiwork."

"I am terribly sorry about what happened to the barn Peridot, we promise we can fix it." Gamora said kneeling down to the renegade technician's height. "Looks like we're gonna need tons of duct tape for this." Rocket commented trying to fit two pieces of wood together. "I am Groot." Groot said. "Of course they can fit together you ninny, I just need duct tape!"

* * *

"Hey Connie, really sorry about what happened. I just didn't want Thanos to kill you like he did to all those innocent people in the past." Steven spoke as he texted Connie on his phone. "I don't mind if you get mad at me again, I'm pretty mad at myself either. Please text back soon." Putting down his device, he let out a deep sigh and lied down on his bed to contemplate what has happened over the past few days.

On one hand, he was ecstatic to meet and fight with some of his favorite heroes, go into space again, meet the Guardians of the Galaxy again and go on a universe-spanning treasure hunt. But on the other, his home planet was once again put at stake and while they did manage to convince Thanos to leave it alone for now, it came at a great cost. Captain America was nearly rendered dead by the Mad Titan and the Crystal Gems were split apart after what he had told them. Amethyst became an Avenger, Pearl left with Doctor Strange and Lapis had once again abandoned Earth to travel with Thor.

Now he, Garnet, Peridot and Connie were the only members to remain in Beach City after the battle, but from what he heard the barn was destroyed by the Outriders and the Guardians elected to stay on Earth to help fix it.

He thought for a few more minutes before finally closing his eyes to take a nap. When he opened them, he found himself in a black void with he himself as its only inhabitant. Or so he thought.

"Salutations little Universe." the all-too familiar voice of Thanos greeted him. Recoiling in fear, Steven summoned his shield ready for another fight before the titan halted him. "I am not here for a rematch child. Rather, I am becoming intrigued by your abilities, specifically on how you can enter my dreams."

"Wait, what?" the half-Gem boy stuttered lowering his defenses. "Why do you say that? Do you want me to join you?!" he wondered. "No Steven. I simply want to talk. I have been thinking lately and it seems the Amethyst was right about us, we're two sides of the same coin."

With a wave of his hand, the tyrant created astral projections of both the boy's loved ones and those who feared Thanos. "You claim to be a kind-hearted loving mortal adored by your peers but I am an all-powerful war-mongerer bent on balancing the universe that is both feared and despised by all." Snapping his fingers, Thanos caused the projections to disappear. "We both have powers that are considered amazing by the human eye, but you use yours to treat others with kindness but mine are used to destroy." To demonstrate, Thanos created an entire planet out of nothing only to obliterate it. "Okay you're right about those, but you're just so...mean!" Steven rebuked. "You hurt my friends, you hurt all these people across the cosmos, and you even hurt your own people as well."

"So you think I'm "mean" child?" the dark lord wondered bending down to meet Steven's gaze. "You may think that all you want, but it seems you aren't any different." He produced more images, that being of three Gems whom Steven wanted to help but they refused. "The mighty Jasper who's mind was corrupted by vengeance." He gestured to the image of Jasper's corruption at the Beta Kindergarten, specifically her last words revealing her former allegiance to the late Pink Diamond. "My Diamond! Your Diamond! PINK DIAMOND!"

"The fanatical rebel who simply wanted to free her people." Thanos made the image of Jasper disappear and pointed to Steven accidentally poofing Bismuth with her weapon the Breaking Point. "Then you really are better than her." the blacksmith chuckled before her physical form finally vanished leaving only her gemstone. "And the soldier hungry for honor." Finally, there was the projection of the Eyeball Ruby being tossed out of Steven's bubble and into the black void of space. "They simply wanted to see their dreams come into fruition only for you to get in their way."

"But why are you like this? Why do you only want to destroy?" the son of Rose asked. "I'm glad you asked young one. Allow me to regale you my origin story." Thanos then conjured up another image, this one of himself when he was young and then an entire city surrounding them. This city looked rather similar to the city on Titan, only it was more glimmering and pristine. "I was born the son of the Titans A'Lars and Sui-San along with my brother Eros."

As he spoke, he produced a few more images, this time of three humanoid beings similar to him. One had long white hair with green robes, the second was a woman with black hair and finally a young man with red hair clad in a red-and-white bodysuit with a leather jacket. "I was ostracized for a certain genetic deformity that made me resemble my race's sworn enemies, my father was barely around and my mother tried to slaughter me when I was born. My life was like Hell whilst my brother was adored by all."

"So you just wanted a friend? Maybe I can help you find one." Steven said. "I know quite a few people who would really enjoy your company." He was suddenly interrupted by the Titan with a roar. "No, I didn't want a friend! Let me finish." He continued on with his backstory. "When Titan was faced with a catastrophe that could destroy the planet, I proposed on an idea that could save us all. But they rejected it because it would be far too drastic. Once again dismissed, I eventually learned that the only way to save Titan was to destroy it. And that's when I met her."

The scenery then changed to an altar in a desolate realm where a woman dressed in black robes stood, her back facing an approaching Thanos. "I know the name of every soul that ever lived, died and ever will. Yet I do not know yours mortal. Explain."

"Greetings Mistress Death, I am Thanos of the planet Titan and I seek your assistance." Thanos greeted with a cordial bow. "My people are being faced with a world-ending crisis and my idea on how to survive it has been rejected so I seek advice. Please, I beg of you." he stated. "That reminds me of a problem of my own I've been facing." Lady Death declared. "I fear that this universe is growing far too much and that half of it needs to go. Would you be willing to help me carry this out?"

"And so, I made a deal with Death that in exchange for me wiping out half of the universe, she would become my bride. And wipe out I did." Thanos declared erasing the images. "I had slaughtered and enslaved billions all for her love, but as time moved on she refused to pay attention to me. That was when I decided to search for the legendary Infinity Stones and here we are now."

"So it's all because you love someone that just doesn't care?" the boy wondered. "Indeed so Steven, but I will succeed one day. When I'm done, half of the universe will still exist." the dark lord declared. "The only difference is that remaining half will be under my control and you all will be powerless to stop me. Make of that what you will and we shall meet again someday."

Steven finally woke up from his dream to find Garnet shaking him awake. "Steven, are you all right?!" the fusion cried before noticing that the boy finally opened his eyes. "Oh thank goodness you're awake. What happened?"

"I had a nightmare. Thanos was in it." Steven explained. "He told me about how he wanted to impress this Death person by killing half of all life in the universe." This statement alone was enough to send shivers down Garnet's spine as she began quaking in her boots. "Thanos! What does he want with Steven?!" she muttered to herself, no doubt it was a representation of Ruby and Sapphire panicking. "He obviously wants to control him! Why did the others have to leave when he could attack at any moment! Please calm down Ruby! How can I calm down when-"

Suddenly, Garnet finally defused into the smaller Gems, with Ruby nervously pacing around and Sapphire sitting quietly contemplating the situation. "Ruby, Sapphire, what's wrong guys?!" the boy cried trying to console his two guardians. "It's nothing Steven, just stress. It's actually been happening a lot lately." Sapphire stated as her hands fidgeted.

"Thanos could still be out there, he might actually go back on his promise and attack Earth!" Ruby fretted before the two put a stop to her. "Things would be so much better with the others around." the red Gem finally sighed before embracing the two. "I wonder how they're doing."

* * *

New York City. The Big Apple, the City That Never Sleeps, the home of Earth's Mightiest Heroes.

The glimmering beacon of dreams rests on the coast of New York and within it, Manhattan. This part of the state is home to some of the world's most famous superheroes such as the Defenders, the Fantastic Four, the X-Men and especially the Avengers.

Within their mansion headquarters that formerly belonged to Howard Stark, their newest member Amethyst let loose in the training room, taking out holograms of villains such as Whiplash, Attuma, Ulysses Klaw, Taskmaster, Baron Zemo and Graviton. "ZOO-WEE-MAMA, WHAT HAVE I BEEN MISSING?!" she screamed knocking down the hologram of Whiplash before tying down Taskmaster. Just then, an entire army of training robots resembling the villain Ultron came into view chanting "Ultron intelligence online." This alone got the small Gem even more excited. "Your mom is online ya trash cans!"

Amethyst curled up into a ball and speeded right into the Ultron dummies, knocking them all down like bowling pins. "Training simulation complete. Well done Amethyst." a female mechanical voice congratulated her as she walked out of the training room. "Hey thanks Jocasta, that was just amazing!"

Ever since the original Avengers disassembled, a new team led by Captain Marvel had been formed consisting of Amethyst, Mantis, Black Widow, She-Hulk, Vision, Falcon and War Machine. Clint had returned home to his family, Bruce was assigned to try & help Steve and Tony was desperately searching for a way to stop Thanos. Now it was just them protecting the city from evil. Many of the reserve Avengers had already received word of the battle from Spidey, Hank & Janet and were equally heartbroken.

"Very good there Amethyst, you have quite the fighting spirit." Vision congratulated her. "Kind of reminds me of Pietro. Makes me wonder how he and Wanda are doing back in Sokovia."

Just then, mechanical doors opened and Captain Marvel walked out from behind them. "TEN-HUT!" she shouted like a military commander forcing everyone in the room to line up beside her. "Good show today everyone, but let's not forget why we're all here today." Carol explained. "There have been rumors that HYDRA is planning another attack. We don't know their precise target but rest assured we have to be on patrol at all times until they make an appearance. Okay Avengers, move out!"

The other members followed her commands and prepared for an eventual fight with Hydra while Amethyst was left by herself. Then Falcon walked up from behind her. "Hey Amy, what's up?" he asked. "It's nothing Sam, just that I'm happy being an Avenger and New York is awesome, but I really miss Beach City, Steven and the other Gems."

"Hey, I know where you're coming from. We're all still grievin' what happened to Steve so much that aside from the original six, everyone else like Pete, Hank & Janet and Kamala went solo, the Maximoffs went back to Sokovia and I don't know what Wolverine is up to!" Sam said. "Probably off brooding in some other part of the world."

* * *

And brooding in another part of the world Wolverine was. After word got out of Captain America's fate, the reserve Avengers also separated, with the mutant returning to traveling the world. A particularly famous destination of his was Asia, but this time he was traversing through a forest in Korea. "That DeMayo owes me big time." he snarled pushing more greenery out of the way until he heard a rather low, somber voice. "You would not believe what has happened Pink." the voice said. "Thanos has finally defeated us. Our home was lost, every last Gem except for me, Yellow and our Pearls shattered. I don't even know what to do anymore."

"Oh damn, who's this big lady?" Logan wondered trying to get a better view of the owner of the voice. Upon further inspection, he discovered a large figure dressed in a dark blue cloak along with a much smaller female that bared a striking resemblance to Pearl in front of some pink object. "I truly do miss you Pink, I just wish things hadn't turned out so terribly."

"My Diamond, I think I can see something." her Pearl stated looking around before spotting Wolverine trying to hide from them. "What is it Pearl?" the giant wondered. "Okay, you got me bub." Logan said finally revealing himself to the two. "It's another human my Diamond, though it looks rather peculiar." the Pearl explained. "Okay listen here Alice, I ain't just a human. I'm a mutant." the savage Canadian declared popping out his claws for them to see. "A mutant?! I haven't seen one of those in centuries!"

"So I guess you have heard of us." James stated retracting his Adamantium claws before staring at the pink object before them. "So what the hell is this ol' thing?" he asked pounding on it. "Please be careful there mutant!" the giant woman cautioned him. "This is the palanquin of a very good friend of mine, but she unfortunately was killed so many centuries back." she said remorsefully. "Hey, I know how ya feel babe." Wolverine sympathized with her. "I've been alive since the nineteenth century and I've lost so many people throughout my life. My dad, my boyhood friend and God knows how much more."

Suddenly, a portal appeared before the trio and out of it came Thanos, turning his head to examine Korea's environment before glaring at Blue Diamond. Behind him was one of his loyal minions Corvus Glaive who immediately stabbed Wolverine in the torso with his namesake weapon before tossing him away. "Blue Diamond, why are you here when you can be bowing before me?" the Titan asked. "For the last time Thanos, I will never obey you!" the Diamond shouted glaring daggers at him. "You may have destroyed my planet, shattered most of my kind and enslaved me & my sister, but I refuse to listen to your demands!"

"Do you know just who I am?" Thanos boomed as Wolverine tried to get up from being attack by Glaive. "I am Thanos the Mad Titan, destroyer of worlds, conquerer of all, servant to Death itself and I command your respect or face oblivion." He then turned to the fallen palanquin. "And what could this be?" Thanos asked staring at it." That is Pink Diamond's palanquin, one of the remains of her legacy." Blue Diamond answered in a fretful tone. "Whatever you do, please don't touch it!"

Thanos simply rolled his eyes and with a snap of his fingers, destroyed the palanquin in a fiery explosion much to the Homeworld monarch's terror. "You said I shouldn't touch it." he reiterated with a wry smirk. "Now come, we have much to do." Blue then remorsefully followed him back into the portal with her Pearl following behind and it suddenly vanished.

Logan finally arose from his fall to see just what had happened. The palanquin that giant blue lady treasured so much was now a smoldering wreck thanks to Thanos. Now it was up to him to find Steven and warn him of what's to come as he raced away.

* * *

"Hey Steven, I got your texts. I'm not mad at you like what happened last time, I'm just super worried." Connie spoke typing a reply message to Steven on her phone. "Worried that this Thanos might come back. The Avengers & Guardians spoke about how powerful he can be. Hope we can talk again someday."

Putting her phone down, Connie sighed to think about what had happened over the past few days. From what she had heard earlier, Thanos could have the power to wipe out everything with a literal snap of his fingers and has been seeking the Infinity Stones for centuries. She knew Steven did the right thing by leaving her out of it because Thanos would be sadistic enough to kill her to provoke him, but she still wanted to protect the universe she lived in alongside him.

Just then her mother came in. "Is everything all right Connie?" she asked. "I'm fine Mom, I've just been thinking lately." Connie answered. "Steven wanted me to stay behind while he helped out the Avengers and now look what happened! The Crystal Gems have now separated because they lost their friend and think they failed to protect Earth! It's things like these that make me scared to lose him because well, he's my best friend."

"I know you're nervous Connie, but you know they'll find a way eventually." Connie's mother assured her. "Priyanka, can you come down for a bit?!" her husband called her from downstairs. "I'll be with you in a bit Doug!" She hugged her daughter and walked downstairs. "That guy is still out there. Wonder what he's up to?" Doug asked peering out the window to spy on a man dressed in a black hoodie just standing outside their house. "I think it's best we pay no mind to him. That way he can leave us be."

The man turned away from the Maheswarans' residence to talk to himself. "That Connie might be of use to us." the man said stroking his chin before walking away.

* * *

"Cherry man." Tony Stark mumbled sadly as he tried to work on a way to defeat Thanos. Out of all the Avengers, Steve's fate hit him the hardest. Although they butted heads a lot, they were still close friends and an unstoppable team. But now with the team disassembled, he had now secluded himself to his lab building armors and drinking. "Wonder how the others are doing?"

"Mr. Stark, Ms. Potts found Amethyst looting through your belongings." J.A.R.V.I.S said to him before a disgruntled Pepper walked in dragging a drunken Amethyst along. "Can you explain what she was doing in your bar?" she said tossing the wasted Gem to his side. "Whoa, talk about a demon in a bottle here!" Amethyst slurred cradling a wine bottle before collapsing flat on her face. "Oh good grief Amethyst," Tony groaned smacking his face. "if you want to puke don't lose it all over me, or Pepper, or my stuff. Y'know what, don't barf all over anything."

Amethyst then immediately retched into a nearby trashbin before her vomit was gathered up in a plastic trash bag by a mechanical arm and tossed into an incinerator. "Thanks Dum-E." Tony thanked the arm before returning to his work. "So what brings you here?" he asked the former Crystal Gem. "I just wanted to check up on you while me and the other new Avengers are out searching for HYDRA." she replied trying her best to smile at him. "We're buddies right?"

"Okay, kinda. We barely had some time to chat while we were searching for those stones. Now can you hand me a wrench?" The Quartz complied picking up the tool and tossing it to the inventor. "Listen Tony, I know you're super depressed over what happened to Steve, but Amethyst is as saddened about it as you." Pepper tried to convince him to talk with Amethyst about their loss before they were disturbed by Amethyst's Avengers ID beeping. "Hang on guys, gotta take this! Go Jenny!"

"Amethyst, we found HYDRA! We're at Times Square, get there post-haste!" She-Hulk cried before the transmission ended. "Hate to come and run so soon guys, but duty calls!" the purple Gem exclaimed before spindashing out of Stark's lab and into the city streets. "Sometimes I wonder just what is up with her." Tony said.

* * *

"Search this entire location men, I've been hearing of Gem activity around here!" the Red Skull commanded to his militia while they had the famous Times Square occupied. Along with him were some of HYDRA's other leaders, Baron von Strucker, Arnim Zola, Baron Zemo and Madame Hydra.

Meanwhile, the new Avengers charged into battle. Captain Marvel and Vision flew in first before being joined by Falcon & War Machine, followed by Black Widow on a motorbike, She-Hulk, Mantis and finally Amethyst. "Alright team, you know what to do!" Carol commanded activating her Binary powers making her hair stand up and a mask form around her head. "Mighty Avengers, assemble!"

"Hey guys, need a little help?" Spider-Man offered swinging into battle. "More than ever Pete!" Amethyst responded smashing into a HYDRA soldier before finally stopping in place. "Hey Tomatohead, over here!" she called insulting the Red Skull. "YOU!" the terrorist screamed turning to point at Amethyst. "You're the same purple midget that humiliated me seventy-one years ago! Men, destroy that foolish fraulein!"

The HYDRA soldiers began firing at Amethyst but luckily for her, she dodged them all and tied most of them down with her whips. "Get 'em gang!" she called to the other heroes and they charged into battle. Spidey kept the citizens safe by forming large web barriers that the terrorists' ammo bounced off of. Mantis put another platoon to sleep with her psychic abilities leaving them distracted long enough for She-Hulk to beat them up. "This one I like for her style!" the jolly jade giantess complimented the alien woman. "Thank you my friend."

"Airships at 11 gang!" Rhodey called firing at HYDRA jets with the machine gun on his armor. "Already on it bud!" Danvers responded charging at the Terror-Carrier deploying them. Screaming as loud as she can, she pierced straight through the aircraft in a single strike causing it to crash into the Hudson River.

"What are you idiots doing?! Get up and keep fighting!" Schmidt commanded getting more furious before he noticed Zemo and Ophelia preparing to leave by helicopter. "Where are you two going?" he shouted to the two. "Helmut and I have decided to take our leave Johann. We think it's best to leave you with your obsession with minerals." Sarkissian stated. "And we're leaving behind Zola and Strucker to take the fall for us." Zemo added before they were suddenly cornered by Vision who knocked them out with a blast from his solar gem.

"I can't believe it, being made a fool out of again!" Skull complained to his two remaining partners. "Viper might be right Skull, you are taking your obsession with these Gems a bit too far." Arnim commented before his screen was suddenly broken by Natasha. "They are right, we should leave immediately!" Strucker exclaimed trying to escape before he was tackled by Amethyst's Purple Puma form. "You fools may have decimated my army and my dignity, but you'll never take yours truly!" Red Skull shouted. "Prepare for judgement!"

Suddenly, he made a large suit of armor rise up from behind him and hopped inside of it, preparing to finish this once and for all. "Must be his new project, a battle armor based off of Tony Stark's designs made to combat rather large threats." Vision exposited. "Large threats, eh?" Carol cracked her knuckles. "Let's see if he can handle this!"

The captain grabbed a webline from Peter and spun him around like an Olympic hammer. Parker then grabbed Amethyst by her whip and their combined strength was enough to graze the Skull's battle armor. "Woo, that was nuts!" Amethyst cried. "This had gone on long enough fools, I've had enough!" the HYDRA leader screamed preparing to stomp on the Gem and shatter her before an electric shock was spread around the suit's systems, blowing it up and knocking him down for good. "Okay, which one of you was that?" Peter asked. "I'm guessing it was you Vis."

"I do not think it was any of us Peter. By the way, thank you for your assistance." the android thanked the webslinger before he swung off, leaving the Mighty Avengers alone. "Well whoever it was, we should give them our thanks too." Carol stated flying off. "Avengers, let's head back to base."

The crew followed their flying leader while someone in the distance spied on them. The man wore a black outfit with a matching vest, had long brown hair and a mask on but his most unusual feature was a metallic left arm with a red star on it. The man pulled out of his vest pocket and in it was a picture of Bucky Barnes and Captain America. "That one was for you old friend." he muttered sticking the photo back in his vest. "I'll be with you til the end of the line."

* * *

On Bleecker Street in Greenwich Village rested a three-story Victorian-style townhouse with a rather distinctive window on its roof. This was the Sanctum Sanctorum, home and headquarters of Doctor Stephen Strange, the Sorcerer Supreme. This house was filled with various mystical whosits and whatsits galore from throughout the ages and many a hero have visited here to seek guidance for magical problems.

Sitting down in the living room, the doctor and his new guest Pearl were discussing Sherlock Holmes over some tea while examining the damage caused by Thanos. "You know, I've actually met Sir Arthur Conan Doyle myself and I still can't figure out just how he made Holmes so intelligent." Pearl commented. "Indeed, Sherlock is quite the brainy character." Strange responded. "But we're getting ahead of ourselves, let's see how much havoc Thanos has wreaked across the cosmos."

Using his magic powers, Strange created an image of various planets that were left in ruins by the Mad Titan. "Let's see what we have here." he said. "Klyntar, home of the Symbiotes. Our empowered community has actually had a run-in with these creatures, mostly Spider-Man." Stephen explained. "Sakaar, ruled by the Red King. Mr. Banner actually found himself there once and when he came back to Earth, he wasn't happy."

"But what about this one?" Pearl wondered pointing to one particular planet. "I think this might be of interest to you my friend." Strange stated zooming in on it to reveal various structures that were all too familiar to the white Gem.

"The Gem Homeworld, ruled by the Great Diamond Authority! Did Thanos destroy this too?!" she exclaimed beginning to cry. "I'm afraid so Pearl. I suppose you must be familiar with them?" Strange wondered. "Yes, I once served under one of the Diamonds for thousands of years until I met Rose Quartz, who taught me how to be my own Gem. They may have been evil, but they certainly didn't deserve this!"

"We understand where you're coming from Pearl." Strange's servant and teacher Wong stated sympathizing with the Gem as he refilled their tea. "We lost someone close to us as well, haven't we Stephen?" he said. "Indeed, the Ancient One was a noble woman even if she dabbled in the dark arts a bit."

"Thank you for your kindness you two." Pearl graciously thanked them. "But who knows just what Thanos could be up to now?"

* * *

In a distant corner of the universe, far off from any civilization rested a planet made up of remains from other planets decorated with tributes to Lady Death. This was Battleworld, the new kingdom of Thanos inhabited by himself, his beloved and his minions. Stepping out of a portal, Thanos, Blue Diamond and her Pearl stood before a large white palace on the planet's moon bearing sculptures of Lady Death herself. "Come my minions." the dark lord commanded the two Gems walking up the steps to enter.

Finally inside, Thanos moved toward a throne before him with Lady Death standing next to one side and the demon Mephisto next to the other. Chained to it were Nebula and Yellow Diamond's Pearl with Yellow Diamond herself towering over the throne. "Do you like what you see my beloved?" Thanos asked Death. "Are you pleased by how much I have destroyed, how many innocent souls I have wiped out all for you?"

The personification of death gave no answer as she turned her gaze away from him. Thanos immediately began looking furious as the two former Homeworld matriarchs became petrified thinking he might destroy something in a blind fury. He raised his Gauntlet-clad fist skyward only to calmly lower it, consoling himself. "I suppose she might not be interested in you my lord." Yellow suggested. "You claim that wiping out half the universe would make you her equal when in actuality, you might've become superior to her."

"You might be right Yellow Diamond," Thanos said before reclining his head on his fist to think. "but what can I do to truly win her over?" he pondered. "Here's an idea master, why don't you gather Earth's champions to fight your minions?" Yellow Pearl proposed. "Surely the bloodshed might be entertaining to her?"

After moments of contemplation, Thanos grew a wicked smile on his purple face and decided what he should do.

* * *

In Beach City, Wolverine raced through the streets of the beachside town in a desperate search for Steven, hoping to warn him of Thanos. He charged right past most of its townfolk before finally reaching the beach house and pounding on the door. "Open up kid, this is an emergency!" the mutant screamed before it finally opened. When Logan expected Steven to answer it, instead he got a short blue-skinned woman facing him. "Hello there." she politely greeted him despite the sweat staining her face. "What...the hell...are you?"

"Oh, we are terribly sorry!" another woman around the same height, this one being red, nervously apologized. "I'm Ruby, this is Sapphire and we make Garnet!" Ruby hastily grabbed Sapphire's hand and they refused back into Garnet. "Is something the matter?" the fusion asked. "I came here for the kid! He has to hear this!"

"Steven, someone's here for you!" Garnet called for Steven. "Coming Garnet!" the boy shouted racing downstairs from his bedroom to face the mutant. "Hi there Wolvy, what's up?" he asked James. "I've come from across the world to find you. Where are the others?"

"Amethyst and Pearl both left for New York, and we're the only ones left." Garnet explained sitting him down on the couch before they heard a sudden meow. Looking down, the three saw a small Calico kitten with a single blue eye looking up at them. "Oh hey Cat Steven, didn't see you there!" Steven said sitting the feline on the table before motioning Wolverine to sit down. "Didn't know you were a cat person." he commented staring at the cat. "This is my pet cat Cat Steven." Garnet said presenting her pet to him. "Oh I get it, like Cat Stevens."

"So what did you want to tell us about?" Steven asked. "It's about Thanos. He ain't done with us yet." the mutant revealed to the two Gems' horror. "I saw him in Korea chattin' it up with this big blue lady & her little friend and then he blew up this pink thing the blue lady was getting' all sad over." he explained. "Are you saying he met Blue Diamond?!" Steven cried before they felt a slight rumbling.

 _ **STEVEN UNIVERSE AND GARNET, YOU HAVE BEEN CHOSEN!**_

The two Crystal Gems began disappearing into light trying to escape, but to no avail. "What's happening to us Garnet?!" Steven cried. "I don't know Steven, but whatever's happening won't be pretty!" the fusion exclaimed before reaching out to Wolverine. "Listen Logan, I want you to get help! Find Con-" Before she could finish, they completely vanished leaving only Wolverine and Cat Steven alone in the house. "Now who could she be talking about?" the mutant mused scratching his head with one of his claws before he came to a conclusion. "That's it, Connie!"

He raced outside, bursting through the door to hunt down the swordsgirl and help them save the universe.

* * *

The snowy realm of Nidavellir was one of many realms that had allied with the Allfather Odin and was home to the Dwarves, a race of master blacksmiths and their enemies the Rock Trolls. The two currently traversing the land were Odin's child Thor and his new companion Lapis Lazuli, who was getting cold from the intense chill of this realm. "Is there any way for us to get warm around here, I'm freezing!" she shivered clutching her arms. "Allow me my cerulean comrade." Thor said grabbing his own cape and tearing it off, wrapping it around Lapis like a shawl. "Thanks Thor, but what about you?"

"Oh stuff and nonsense Lapis! I know someone who can make me a new one." the prince of thunder chuckled heartily before they continued on their path. "Eitri, Eitri! It is I, Thor and I seek your assistance!" he called. "So who's this Eitri guy you're calling for?" the ocean Gem wondered following behind. "Eitri is the king of the Dwarves and one of my closest allies. He originally forged my trusted Mjolnir using a dying star, which happened to be the same object that destroyed your realm's dinosaurs."

"Wow, your stories are actually really cool!" Lapis said in awe of the Asgardian's tale. "Thank you my aquatic friend, now we proceed!" Thor shouted pointing onward before a loud rumbling sounded. "So we meet again Thor!" a voice called and its owner stomped into view. It was a large orange-skinned hairy monster clad in green armor with a mouth full of fangs. "Ulik, can't you see we are busy here?!"

"We've heard rumors you've got a Gem on your hands, and lookie what ya have here!" Ulik exclaimed leering menacingly at Lapis. "Whaddya say we do with her boss?" one of the Rock Trolls asked his leader. "I say we take her back to base and see what makes her tick!" another shouted before he was suddenly cut off by Lapis splashing him into the snow, freezing him. "I've been everyone's prisoner for far too long, and I won't let you be my new captors!"

"Very well then fools. You have made a grave mistake Odinson." Ulik declared preparing his fellow Rock Trolls for battle. "Oh please, grave mistakes are what builds character." the Asgardian champion responded spinning his hammer while Lapis raised an aquatic column with a wave of her hand. "Now bring it."

With a roar, Ulik and his army charged at the two. Although they had brute strength and cunning, the teamwork between Asgard's finest warrior and the terraformer proved to be an even match. Lapis put even more of the enemy on ice while Thor smacked another in the jaw with a mighty swing of Mjolnir. "This Lapis is even tougher than I thought!" one of them cried before he was swallowed by a water barrier she formed around Thor, leading the god to make lightning literally strike twice, adding electricity to the barrier and electrocuting all the Rock Trolls.

"ENOUGH!" another more elderly voice boomed causing Ulik and the remaining trolls to flee. Looking up, Thor and Lapis discovered a short humanoid male with graying hair and a suit of armor wielding an appropriately sized sword standing before them. "Eitri, it is a pleasure to see you once more!" Thor warmly greeted him. "Oh hello Thor, how have things been?" the Dwarf king casually said. "Wonderful old friend. I'd like you to meet my new comrade Lapis Lazuli!"

"A Gem! I haven't seen one since I joined Odin and his crew in the Rebellion thousands of years ago!" Eitri gaped in awe at Lapis examining her form. "And it's a Lapis Lazuli too, quite a powerful Gem! Tis a shame they're mostly used for digging out Kindergartens."

The Dwarf suddenly interrupted himself when he noticed the makeshift shawl wrapped around her shoulders. "Is this Thor's cape? Oh my, this must be fixed post-haste! Come with me!" He led the two out of the forest clearing towards his forge.

* * *

Stepping into a nearby cave, Lapis's jaw dropped at the sight of the forge, seeing numerous dwarves work tirelessly building weapons using the lava beneath the surface. "Welcome to the mines of Nidavellir miss! We dwarves worked in here for as long as we could remember and definitely show no signs of stopping!" Eitri made a grand gesture introducing the Gem to their way of life before taking the duo to his personal forge. "So what brings you two to Nidavellir?"

Thor took off his chestplate and began explaining their situation as the dwarf began making a new cape. "The reason why we have come here is because Thanos has come once more. He now has all the Infinity Stones once more and exterminated half of all life in the universe, which is why we seek your guidance."

"As much as I would be happy to assist you son of Odin, I'm afraid I must decline." Etri said sadly. "Our kind may have extraordinary capabilities and even mightier weapons, I fear we might not be enough against Thanos." He finally finished the cape and handed the chestplate back to Thor. "Thank you Eitri, and I'm sorry you had to decline but it is for the best." the god thanked him taking Lapis back outside and raising his hammer. "HEIMDALL, OPEN THE BIFROST!" Within seconds, the two found themselves flying out of Nidavellir and landing in a golden palace solely inhabited by a muscular dark-skinned man holding a sword. "Welcome home Thor."

"Heimdall, it is good to see you once more!" Thor boomed. "Lapis, meet another one of my comrades. This is Heimdall, guardian of the Bifrost Bridge, gifted with the ability to see pretty much anything in the Nine Realms." Heimdall stepped forth and gracefully shook Lapis's hand. "Welcome fair maiden, never expected we'd get a Gem visitor after our encounter with the rebels all those thousands of years ago."

"Wait, you actually met them?" Lapis wondered. "I would elaborate further on how a pilgrimage to Midgard would lead to us siding with the Crystal Gems, but it seems Thor that there are a few warriors expecting your return." Suddenly, Thor was swarmed with four other Asgardians excited to see him. The first was a black-haired woman in a red tunic with silver armor over it. The second was a large rotund man with a bushy red beard. The third was more slender, wore green and bore blonde facial hair. Finally, the last one had a blue scarf and a dark-colored mustache.

"It's been so long old friend, how has avenging been?!" the large warrior excitedly asked. "And who is this fair maiden you have brought with you?" the green-clad man added gracefully kissing the Gem's hand. "My name is Lapis Lazuli. And I assume you must be some of Thor's friends?" Lapis inquired.

"Indeed Lady Lazuli, I am Sif and these are my comrades the Warriors Three." the female warrior introduced herself and her companions. "Call me Volstagg the Voluminous! You can guess why I'm called that." the fat champion said. "You may refer to me as Fandral the Dashing." the swashbuckler struck a pose and shot a loving gaze at Lapis. "And I am Hogun the Grim." the horned warrior concluded the introductions.

"Say, you ever wanted to tour Asgard?" Thor asked taking the Gem's hand. "No, but that does sound pretty fun." Lapis said before she was suddenly dragged away from Heimdall's observatory across the Rainbow Bridge all the way to Asgard's capital city.

* * *

Thor and his friends showed Lapis all of Asgard's famous landmarks like the Hall of Asgard, Odin's Vault, the training grounds of the Einherjar and the grand dining hall. "And this is you might find Volstagg sometimes." Fandral quipped spreading his arms wide. "Plus we hold a feast following the Day of the Great Hunt here every year! Speaking of which..." The Warriors Three left Thor, Sif and Lapis at the hall pumping their fists in the air while chanting "Boar! Boar! Boar! Boar!"

"I think I shall return to guard post. See you two at the feast." Sif said her farewells before walking away. "There's two more people I know on Asgard that I should really introduce you to." Thor stated leading his blue friend away from the dining hall. "And they are my parents and king & queen of Asgard as well."

"And you're the prince, right?" Lapis asked following her thunderous companion behind. "Exactly!" The two of them strolled into the royal palace until they were met with the iron gaze of the Allfather himself, Odin with his wife Frigga alongside him. "Welcome home my child." Frigga welcomed her son back with a hug. "It's a pleasure to see you once again mother."

"And we see you have brought a guest, a Gem no less." Odin added looking at Lapis. "Hello there your majesty, my name's Lapis." Lapis greeted him with a curtsy. "Greetings Lapis, I am Odin, ruler of Asgard and defender of the Nine Realms." the Allfather boomed, his tone stern yet fatherly at the same time. "And this is my wife Frigga."

"Tell us, how do you like Asgard?" Frigga asked. "I actually like it here! All of Thor's friends are really nice, it's super pretty and I feel so protected because you're all so strong!" Lapis exclaimed discussing all she adored about the kingdom. "I would really like to stay here, but that would mean leaving all my friends on Earth behind, especially Peridot." Her voice suddenly became somber as she knelt down on the floor before the royal family. "I can only assume this Peridot you speak of must be a dear friend of yours." Frigga guessed. "Yeah."

"Come now Lapis, I felt the same way when I first traveled to Midgard." Thor sympathized with her. "Before becoming one of their mightiest heroes, I was a stubborn & arrogant prince who was banished for starting a war with the Frost Giants and stripped of my powers. Eventually I made friends and learned a bit of humility and I willingly decided to stay and protect Earth."

Suddenly, the doors flung open and in charged Sif, looking heavily damaged as if she came back from a nasty battle. "Your majesty, I have terrible news!" she cried clearly out of breath. "Loki has returned, and he has an entire army of crystalline beasts with him!"

"Wait, who's Loki?!" Lapis wondered getting up from the floor and staring at her now livid friend. "My brother. He has menaced me and my comrades for as long as I can remember!" the prince shouted readying Mjolnir. "Though I wonder where could he have gotten those creatures." he added before Odin rose from his throne grabbing onto his spear. "Assemble our forces son, these geode monsters could be unlike anything we've seen before."

Thor obliged, rushing to Sif's side and allowing her to fetch the Warriors Three. "Wait, we're actually going to fight this guy?! But I remember what happened last time we were side-by-side!" Lapis panicked trying to fly away before Thor caught up to her. "Do not worry, Loki may be manipulative and especially deceitful, he is nothing like Thanos." he assured her. "Besides, I'm sure your aquatic arsenal would be of great use to us!"

"Okay then, I'll come with you." the terraformer finally gave in putting on a confident smirk. "Very well then, let us make haste! For Asgard!" Odin declared marching out of the throne room before he and his son were stopped by Frigga. "Before you leave, I have but one request." she stated. "Do go easy on Loki. He may be a villain, but he's still family."

"We'll try my dear." Odin said giving her a kiss before the three of them set off. To Lapis, this was simply another fight but to the Asgardians, it was family vs family, father vs son.

Brother vs brother.

* * *

"Thank you for taking me to this place. What do they call it again?" Pearl asked a blonde woman dressed in a black domino mask and a white bodysuit with blue highlights & billowing sleeves as she dropped the Gem off an airborne bike in front of a large building off the coast of Manhatten. "This is the S.H.I.E.L.D headquarters, the Triskelion." the woman explained. "Oh well, thank you Bobbi." Pearl entered the building which was packed with various men and woman dressed in suits, presumably to do their espionage duties.

"Now where did Bruce say his room was?" she muttered gazing at a piece of paper with the numbers 1, 9, 6 and two on it. She was so immersed in the paper that she almost bumped into a brown-haired man wearing a navy suit speaking into an earpiece. "Oh I am terribly sorry sir! Please I didn't mean to, I was searching for Dr. Robert Bruce Banner." the former Crystal Gem hurriedly apologized before the man stopped her. "It's okay miss. You said you were searching for Banner?" the man asked. "Why yes. I'm Pearl, a friend of his. And you are?"

"Phil Coulson, agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. Pleased to meet you." Phil said. "I've already heard of you from Fury." he stated. "Oh, so where is Nicholas now?" Pearl asked. "Off on some secret mission." Coulson replied before beginning to walk away. "So as I was saying, you were searching for Bruce?"

"Yes, do you know where Room 1962 is?" Pearl asked beginning to follow him. "That's on the fifth floor. Want me to come with you?" the agent offered. "Alright then." The two of them took the elevator all the way up to the fifth floor and when it stopped & they disembarked, Pearl began scouring the hallway for Room 1962. "Let's see, 1941, 1963, 1965, 1964, ah here we are, 1962!"

Entering the room, Pearl laid her eyes upon her old comrade still comatose in a hospital bed with various medical equipment surrounding him. Off to the side was Bruce working on a computer unaware he received a visitor. "I'll leave you two alone for a bit, have some business of my own to attend to." Coulson stated walking away. "Hello there doctor, it's me Pearl." she announced finally catching his attention. "Oh Pearl, what brings you here?" Bruce asked turning to her. "I came her from Strange's place to see how Steve was doing. Oh, Steven was just so heartbroken to see his idol end up like this."

"I know Pearl. We removed the halves of his shield so he'll be back soon enough, but I fear he won't recuperate on time." Banner solemnly confirmed before they heard footsteps enter the room. "Where is he?" a man asked. This man in particular had long brown hair and a robot arm in place of his left arm. Pearl retaliated by immediately summoning her spear ready to defend her friends. "Stay back Banner, he might be dangerous!"

She took a mighty jab at the intruder but he fought back grabbing the spear and tossing Pearl in a cupboard full of medicine. The Gem let out a war cry and clashed her weapon with the man's mechanical arm before she looked into her eyes and recognized just who this stranger was. "No, it can't be!" she gasped. "James?!"

"Pearl?" the man gasped removing his mask, revealing that he is none other than James Buchanan Barnes, her old friend from World War II. "I can't believe it, you're alive?!" the Gem exclaimed in sheer astonishment. "You gave up your life to save Steve, we were all told you died!" Pearl began panting in sheer befuddlement, panicking at the thought that Bucky was alive. "Can someone get me a chair, I think I'm going to faint!"

"It's all right Pearl, I'm fine." Bucky tried to steady her. "And in case you're wondering, I was taken an experimented on by Arnim Zola which is where I got this arm." he explained bringing attention to his metallic limb. "I suppose you must be here for Captain Rogers as well?" Bruce asked getting between the two. "Yes. After catching word of what happened, I turned to vigilantism because fighting evil is what he would've wanted." Bucky said. "I know you're doing what your friend thinks is best, but I don't really think vigilantism is the best course." Pearl responded before they heard a sudden pinging noise coming from Banner's desk. "My Avengers ID?!"

Picking it up, Bruce tapped on the A on the card to receive a hologram of Mantis. "Hello, is Pearl with you?!" she exclaimed. She seemed very frightened which meant something was horribly wrong. "Pearl? Oh yeah, she's right over here." the gamma radiation expert answered handing the card to the Gem. "What's the matter Mantis?"

"Some of my teammates are gone! Amethyst, Widow and the captain vanished without a trace!" the alien frantically said. "And I've heard news that the magician is gone as well!" Then there was a faint rumbling before a voice loudly spoke.

 _ **PEARL, CAPTAIN AMERICA AND THE INCREDIBLE HULK, YOU HAVE BEEN CHOSEN!**_

Then the three of them began fading into light. "Do you think this is what happened to them?!" Pearl exclaimed dropping the ID card in fear. "I'm pretty sure but I'm also not sure just where they've gone!" Banner answered before they, along with the still knocked out Steve vanished from the room, leaving only Bucky gaping in awe. "I have to tell someone!" he exclaimed racing out of Room 1962, fearing about what could happen to them.

* * *

Meanwhile on Asgard, a great battle was about to take place.

On one side was the Allfather Odin along with his son Thor, his companions Lady Sif & the Warriors Three and their new friend Lapis Lazuli along with platoons of Einherjar & Valkyrior. And on the other was his adopted son Loki with an army of hideous creatures with multi-colored bodies, multiple limbs and gemstones adorning their bodies.

"By Odin's beard, what even are these abominations?!" Volstagg exclaimed readying his mighty sword. "They could be Gems, but they're nothing like the ones we've seen during the Rebellion!" Sif added. "Could they be casualties of war?"

"I think they're Cluster Gems, shattered remains of former Crystal Gems used by Homeworld to create prototypes of a superweapon!" Lapis explained standing beside Thor. "Those Diamond dogs! They were so desperate to wipe out Earth they even resorted to turning their own kind into weapons!" Odin snarled glaring at one of the Clusters before his son stepped forth and pointed his hammer at Loki. "Brother, why have you come here with these mineral monstrosities?!" he exclaimed. "Why it's simple brother," the Frost Giant replied. "I've come for revenge."

"You heard him men! Attack!" Fandral cried leading the soldiers into battle against the Cluster Gems. The Einherjar broke a few of them to pieces while the Valkyrior, led by Bruunhilda, soared high above them on horseback dashing down with their swords. "So did you say these things are made up of parts of Gems?" Hogun asked Lapis. "Yes, but where did that guy get these? Also, I don't really see the family resemblance."

"So you say little Lapis?" Loki commented snidely suddenly teleporting from behind her. "Well how about I show you?" He then magically turned his skin blue and incredibly cold to the touch with red eyes to boot. "In truth, I am actually a Frost Giant adopted by Odin after my birth parent left me to perish in Jotunheim." the trickster explained grasping her chin. "And I see you seem lost. Do you think siding with such a boorish fool like Thor is better than allying with someone who has enough minions to protect you?"

"NO!" Lapis screamed slapping Loki's hand off her face and splashing him away. "What was that for?! I was just trying to propose an alliance!" he exclaimed reverting to his more human-like self. "You'll only just treat me like a slave or some kind of tool! And I refuse to ever be used again!" She let out a mighty yell launching an entire tsunami on him, nearly drowning him before Thor stopped her. "Lapis, wait! Frigga told us to go easy on him!"

"I know, but he's just so smug it keeps reminding me of someone I knew in the past." Lapis weeped ceasing the tsunami while Loki ran for the hills. "She was a brute, forcing me to fuse with her and we fought each other for months." She quietly sobbed into Odinson's chest before Sif noticed Loki fleeing through a portal. "Hey look, he's getting away!" she cried pointing straight at him. Lapis ceased her crying and replaced her misery with rage as she flew after him. "Get back here you!"

"Lapis, wait!" Thor exclaimed chasing her and his brother through the portal before it suddenly vanished. "Thor!" Sif and the Warriors Three cried. "Where do you suppose he went?" Fandral asked. "I do not know, but I fear wherever they are, they're in for the fight of their lives." Odin answered.

* * *

 _This first chapter was quite a doozy! So many new characters making cameos, new plotlines to be resolved in future chapters, I pretty sure this might be longer than the final chapter of Clod on the Run! Well no time to waste now, join us next time for the next chapter of Part 2, Welcome to Battleworld!_


	2. Welcome to Battleworld

_AN: So with Infinity War releasing in a few weeks, I feel I might release the next few chapters either before or after them. Anyway, when we last left off the Crystal Gems and the Avengers were torn apart with some going their separate ways and others staying in Beach City. But a mysterious force sends them flying off world for a new adventure, but what dangers will await them this time?_

* * *

 **Steven Universe: Secret Wars**

 **Part 2: Battleworld**

 **Chapter 2: Welcome to Battleworld**

"God, I should really lay off the drinking." Tony mused as he took a swig of wine while nearly completing work on a new suit of armor. Returning to his project, he turned a few more bolts, fiddled with the arc reactor on the chest plate and adjusted the joints before finally stepping back to admire his work. Standing dormant before him was his latest armor, the Mark LI. Although it bore his signature red & gold color scheme, it was much slimmer and had hexagonal plating.

"Now let's take this baby for a spin." he declared suiting up in the Mark LI and making a heroic pose. "Groovy! J.A.R.V.I.S, statistics!" he commanded the AI. "The Mark LI, built as a sort of all-in-one tool equipped with shapeshifting abilities." J.A.R.V.I.S explained as his boss tested out its various capabilities. "It can change its form to fit the task at hand such as stealth operations, heavy lifting and orbital flight. When not in use, the suit is fitted inside a wristwatch that can be accessed easily."

"Tony!" Stark's good friend Rhodey exclaimed on a holographic screen interrupting the testing. "Rhodes, what's going on? And make it snappy, I got a meeting in an hour." Tony said shutting down the armor as it transformed into a small watch on his wrist. "Listen, the Mighty Avengers are in trouble! Amethyst, Nat and Carol all just vanished! One moment we were all training and the next this big voice was all like 'Amethyst, Black Widow and Captain Marvel, you have been chosen!'"

"Aw geez, that definitely doesn't sound good." the armored hero muttered before he head a faint rumbling followed by the same voice Rhodey had described.

 _ **IRON MAN, YOU HAVE BEEN CHOSEN!**_

"See, that's the voice!" War Machine cried as his friend began vanishing into light. "And where you're going, it's not going to be pretty!" But he was too late, Iron Man was now completely gone from his lab leaving only Rhodes on the screen. "Hope he's all right."

* * *

When Tony rematerialized, he found himself in Beach City yet somehow it was different. Rather than some of its landmarks like the Big Donut and the Crystal Gems' temple, in their place were large statues depicting a woman dressed in a long robe that mostly covered her features except for her face. Also for some reason, he could see New York's famous skyline and even his own tower amongst this new land. "Where the hell am I?"

Tapping on the watch, Tony's new armor formed around him and he flew off. Getting a better view of the landscape, he discovered that this wasn't Earth at all. There were so many strange worlds near it like a wasteland covered in black goo, a pristine metropolis, another wasteland that was a bit more colorful and much more. And somehow, they were all patched together like some distorted quilt.

"Holy crap. It's like some kind of patchwork planet." Iron Man gaped in awe before turning his attention to the planet's moon, upon it rested a large stone white palace bearing more images of this woman. Suddenly he heard a voice that was all too familiar to him. "Now where do you suppose this place could be?" It was Pearl.

Flying down, Tony discovered the Gem discussing their current situation with Bruce. "Pearl & Banner, you too?!" he exclaimed. "Stark, I haven't seen you in ages! What's up with the new armor?!" Bruce exclaimed. "Did you skip from Mark XLVI to whatever you've got now?"

"That old suit was brought along just in case. This is the Mark LI." Tony stated before more pillars of light appeared, spawning Amethyst, Doctor Strange, Captain Marvel and Black Widow. "Whoa, what just happened?!" the small quartz exclaimed before turning to Pearl. "Pearl?! What are you doing here?!" she asked. "Amethyst, what is happening?" Pearl replied. "One minute I was with Dr. Banner & Rogers and now we're here!"

"Steady yourselves everyone." Doctor Strange broke the tension with a calming declaration. "I assume since we are all meeting together again after so long, there must be someone that brought us here for something. But what?" The sorcerer began to ponder before the group all heard a faint screaming noise that became louder as a green object rapidly fell downward, that object being Peridot.

"Uh, Stephen?" Natasha commented before the doctor nonchalantly caught the green Gem in his arms. "My hero!" Peridot cried wrapping her arms around Strange's neck and hugging him before she was awkwardly put down. "Okay, so now Little Green is here too. Guess you were right doc." Carol stated before two more lights began to shine, revealing Steven and Garnet. "Where are we?" Steven asked clinging onto Garnet's leg. "I'm not sure Steven, but at least we have company."

"Amethyst, Pearl!" the boy cheered rushing to his two guardians before hugging them. "So awesome to be together again!" Amethyst cried. "Indeed Amethyst, you have no idea how much I missed you Steven." Pearl added gently squeezing him. "Okay, so now we have the Crystal Gems back together and most of the Avengers too." Widow commented. "Makes me wonder who's next?"

Just then, a portal opened behind them and out of it came a furious Lapis Lazuli with Thor frantically chasing behind her. "Get back here you!" the terraformer shouted before suddenly crashing into Peridot. "Lapis, wait! I think Loki's gone!" Thor cried out before stopping in his tracks. "My friends, you have appeared here too. But this doesn't seem like any of the planets we've traveled to before."

"Exactly Odinson, this world seems to be a mix and match of various alien worlds across the universe." Pearl reiterated when suddenly even more beams of light shone revealing Hawkeye and Black Panther. "I just got back from my kids' play. Good thing I was called to action after spending time with my family." the archer joshed. "And I was preparing my kingdom for an eventual return of Thanos." the king added. "But that begs the question of-"

"Where we are, we get it! Yadda yadda yadda!" Amethyst interrupted him making a 'blah-blah' gesture with her hand before T'Challa rushed straight up to her face. "I'd watch your tone around a king if I were you." he threatened.

"So who's left?" Danvers asked before they all came to a realization. "Cap!" they all said in unison before becoming deadly silent in remembrance of Steve's fate. "If he were here, he'd lead us all to kick Thanos' ass." Clint solemnly stated before they suddenly found their friend's now fully-healed body in a bubble alongside two gemstones, one that was orange and another that was rectangular and rainbow colored. "I can't believe it, Captain!" Thor exclaimed before the Gems got a good look at the gemstones sharing the bubble with the soldier. "Wait a minute," Pearl gasped. "Are those-"

With a smack of Thor's hammer, Steve was freed from the bubble along with the gemstones. Upon waking up, the captain picked up his shield and prepared for an immediate battle. "This is where we end this Thanos!" he screamed before stopping himself and seeing all of his teammates and friends before him. "Guys?"

"C-Cap?" Steven muttered gazing at his idol. "I-I can't believe it." Pearl gasped. "Rogers, how are you still alive?" Garnet asked. "I have no idea either. One minute I blacked out after Thanos nearly killed me and the next I'm here with all of you guys." the captain explained. "Well whatever happened, it's goo to have you back Steve." Tony said gratefully fistbumping him. "Thanks Stark."

"Oh good grief, what happened?" Peridot groaned opening her eyes to discover Lapis now on top of her gaping at seeing her roommate after so long. "Peridot?" the water Gem stuttered letting her stand up. "Oh my gosh, I've missed you so much! You wouldn't believe the adventures I've been on with Thor! I met so many of his friends and even fought alongside them on his home!"

"That sounds great Lapis, but I have bad news." Peridot said frowning. "Thanos's minions destroyed the barn. Thankfully Pumpkin is okay and the Guardians pitched in to help me rebuild but I disappeared and wound up here." Lapis was brought to tears by this news and dropped down to hug her. "I'm sorry about what happened Peridot. Maybe I shouldn't have left after all."

Meanwhile, Hawkeye let curiosity get the better of him as he picked up one of the stones to examine it. "What is this, some kind of metal?" he wondered holding the rainbow one before it started glowing, along with the orange one. "Oh boy!"

"So we got everyone present and accounted for. Now to search for clues on where we are." Romanoff declared before her partner rushed up from behind her. "We can search later guys, look!" he exclaimed pointing at the two gemstones as they floated up and began growing humanoid forms. One had orange skin with reddish-orange markings and beige-white hair while the other had rainbow dreadlocks and dressed similarly to that of a blacksmith. "Know either of them?"

"That can't be possible!" Garnet exclaimed lowering her shades in astonishment. Before them were none other than Bismuth and Jasper, trying to comprehend what happened. "Where am I?" Jasper wondered before glaring at Bismuth. "But wherever I am, I definitely remember you."

"Been a long while, hasn't it Jasper?" Bismuth asked preparing for a fight. "I've been waiting to see you again since you vanished at the Ziggurat!" the Quartz soldier shouted summoning her crash helmet. "How's about a little warmup?" Just as she was about to land the first strike, Steven and Peridot both got in the way. "Wait you two, stop!" Steven cried trying to stop them. "Yeah, there's no reason right now to punch each other."

"YOU!" Jasper screamed pointing at the smaller Gem. "You're the one who poofed me, and now you're going to pay!" She grabbed Peridot by the collar while Bismuth glanced at the two of them. "Hey Steven, who's the little green one?" she asked. "Oh yeah, that's Peridot. She originally worked for Homeworld before calling her superior a clod and joined the Crystal Gems."

"You sided with the enemy! Steven, you know how much Homeworld subjugated us all those centuries ago and yet you give her a free pass?!" Bismuth hollered. "I bet she's spying on you guys for Homeworld and is gonna betray you at any moment!" Suddenly she was interrupted by a large splash to her back, and the blacksmith turned around to find Lapis glaring ferociously at her. "Put her down Jasper! You and Bismuth are mine!"

"Well if it isn't Lapis. Don't think I'll ever forget Malachite brat!" the orange Quartz shouted. "Wait, who are you again?" Bismuth asked. "Don't you remember me?! You basically ruined my life!" Lapis screamed rising above them and standing atop a tower of water. "And now, I will make you pay!"

"Well what are you waiting for, bring it on!" Jasper challenged her making a mighty leap. "Lapis, please listen!" Thor exclaimed chasing after the quartz. The others all made an effort to soothe the water witch's rage while Hawkeye simply turned around to discover a large stone carving of the word "God" and on top of it was an even bigger statue of Thanos wearing the Infinity Gauntlet while standing atop a mountain of his fallen enemies. "Uh guys, I think you should look at this."

"What now birdie?!" Hulk asked before looking at the statue alongside the archer. "Purple man statue here all along?" the green goliath asked. "Yeah, how did we miss that?!" Clint exclaimed. "But how can we get the others to notice?"

"Hulk got idea." Banner stated before taking an incredibly deep breath and letting out a mighty roar that completely interrupted the fight. "Listen up puny humans, Hulk and birdie found big statue of the guy running this place! If we all don't work together, then Hulk smash you all! Understand?!" he boomed for everyone to hear. "Wait, what statue?" Amethyst asked before they all laid their eyes on that very statue. "Oh, that."

"How did we not notice that?" Peridot exclaimed smacking her face. "That's exactly what I asked!" Hawkeye responded before the statue of Thanos began rumbling before it finally came to life, to the shock of everyone. "WELCOME CHAMPIONS OF EARTH TO MY PERSONAL COLISSEUM, BATTLEWORLD!"

"Thanos! So you're the one that brought us all here!" Jasper snarled pounding her fists. "Why don't come down here and face me like the titan you think you are?!" she shouted. "I HAVE NO TIME FOR YOU JASPER. BUT FOR NOW, ALLOW ME TO WELCOME YOU TO MY NEW KINGDOM, HANDCRAFTED FOR MY BELOVED LADY DEATH."

"Lady Death, just like in my dream." Steven gasped. "I HAVE ASSEMBLED MANY OTHER GREAT WARRIORS FROM ACROSS THE GALAXY THAT WERE WILLING TO SIDE WITH I, THANOS, AND FACE YOU IN COMBAT." the statue of Thanos announced before revealing one of the first. "BEHOLD, ANGMO-ASAN, THE DEPOSED KING OF SAKAAR!"

The spotlight was then shone upon a red-skinned humanoid man seated in a golden war-suit that Banner immediately recognized. "Oh great, he's here!" the gamma monster moaned. "You know him?" Garnet asked. "Yeah, funny story. A group of Hulk's villains got revenge by blasting him into space and he crashed on Sakaar where he became a gladiator, kicked that guy's ass and formed an army to get revenge on them." Tony explained. "To say he wasn't happy about that would be an understatement."

"NEXT ARE THE SKRULLS, QUEEN VERANKE AND KL'RT, THE SUPER-SKRULL!" Next to the Red King rose two green aliens with a furrowed chin similar to Thanos. The male alien had his arms extend like rubber bands while they took the form of orange flaming stone. "Oh yeah, definitely remember those guys." Hawkeye said. "They invaded Earth by kidnapping our friends and shapeshifting into them."

"THE MAKLUAN BEAST FIN FANG FOOM!" the statue of Thanos continued displaying a large dragon-like creature glaring at the champion before roaring at Iron Man in particular. "I've dealt with this big guy before. Alien dragon that once served another baddie of mine, the Mandarin."

"AND FINALLY, THE RENEGADE NOVA CORPSMAN TITUS!" Next up was the alien tiger creature Titus whom the Crystal Gems had already dealt with. "Hey Fangface, remember us?!" Amethyst cried waving to him. "I think he'd rather not." Garnet stated as they watched Titus growl furiously at them.

"THESE ARE ONLY A FEW OF THEM THAT YOU WILL FACE." the statue of Thanos concluded. "I SHALL ALLOW YOU ONE HOUR TO PREPARE. MAKE SURE TO GIVE IT YOUR ALL OR FACE TERMINATION." The statue finally became inanimate once more when suddenly, a small bubble containing a set of mechanical limbs descended before the champions, floating toward Peridot in particular. "Are those limb enhancers?"

"He possibly gave them to you because we all know he despises weakness." Jasper suggested. "Where he got them from and how is another story." she added. "I'll help you put them on squirt. But I think I may need help myself on how they work." Tony offered.

"We only have one hour til Thanos challenges us." Cap declared as they all walked away from the statue to the New York/Beach City hybrid. "Be prepared everyone, the battle for the fate of the universe has begun."

* * *

Back on Earth, Bucky rushed across the rooftops to the Avengers Mansion to warn the others of the disappearing heroes. He tried to be as stealthy as he could before finally reaching the former Stark estate and peering through a window to discover the new Avengers searching for their teammates. Bucky slowly opened the window trying not to attract attention before Murphy's Law kicked in as the security system activated. "Intruder alert! Intruder alert! Intruder alert!" the mansion's AI Jocasta shouted while sirens went off. "Oh that's just perfect."

"You rang?" the Vision asked appearing out of nowhere, grabbing the war veteran by the shoulders and tossing him to the floor where he was met by the other heroes. "No everyone, you don't understand!" Bucky cried getting up. "I'm sorry for breaking in like that, but Cap has gone missing!"

"Wait, Steve's gone?" Falcon exclaimed as the security system turned off. "Not just him, Pearl and Bruce vanished as well. I was visiting them in the Triskelion when they suddenly faded into light." Bucky explained which sent the Avengers into a panic. "Aw geez, my cousin went missing too? Hopefully he's okay wherever he is." She-Hulk mused.

"The same thing happened to Amethyst, Carol and the widow lady too." Mantis nodded. "And Tony as well!" Rhodey added before Vision calmed them all down. "Settle down everyone, I think I may know someone who can help us triangulate their location." he stated. "Wanda."

* * *

"Okay, a little to the left Tony." Peridot instructed Iron Man on how to apply her limb enhancers while the other champions prepared for war. "No, not like that you clod!" she shouted frustratedly. "Listen Grinch, I have no idea what the hell I'm doing with this junk. Hey, Bismuth was it? You look like a builder, help me out here!"

"Sorry shellhead, but this tech is way past my time!" Bismuth stated already examining Captain America's shield. "So you say this is made outta vibranium?" she asked the patriot. "Indeed, straight from Wakanda." he replied. "Think I actually went there once and met someone who kinda looked like the cat guy over there." the blacksmith remarked pointing to Black Panther. "Indeed, the Ancient Panther Tribe once fought alongside Rose Quartz in her crusade against the Gem Homeworld."

"I've been waiting thousands of years for this Thanos!" Jasper screamed punching the rock wall of the temple imagining herself pummeling the Mad Titan. "To finally be the one to tear you apart and make you pay for what you did to my Diamond!" Suddenly Steven stepped up from behind her. "Hey Jasper, I wanna talk."

"Oh great, it's you." Jasper groaned turning to the boy. "What do you want Rose?" she asked scowling at him. "Listen, I know you really hate my guts, but you hate Thanos just as much." Steven stated. "If we lose to him, he'll wipe out the entire universe, Earth included. And you know you don't want Pink Diamond to be forgotten right?" he asked. "Well, you got us to stick by you! Are you in or out?"

"I'd rather be shattered than do this." the perfect Quartz muttered before finally accepting the offer of her arch-nemesis' son. "Fine, we'll only work together once." she declared holding up a finger for added emphasis. "But after this, I will still seek vengeance. Capiche?"

"You got it!" Steven answered bravely before walking away into the facsimile of his bathroom and looking into the mirror. "Not right now Steven, not right now." he said to his reflection, no doubt contemplating on whether to tell Jasper on what he learned about Pink Diamond.

"Okay guys, think I got it!" Tony called from the sitting area. Steven raced out of the lavatory to find the Armored Avenger shaking Pearl's hand while Peridot stood up on her mechanical legs, but she instead wobbled and fell down. "D'oh! It's been so long since I've worn limb enhancers, I've almost forgotten how to use them."

"Here, let me help you with that." Lapis offered grasping her barn mate's cylindrical fingers and helping her walk, almost like a mother helping her baby take their first steps. "Thanks Lapis."

"Okay, are we all set?!" Steve announced to which the others answered with a thumbs up. "Good! Champions, assemble!" The champions marched out of the beach house, ready for the epic final battle with Thanos, for their planets, their friends and the entire universe.

Finally outside, they were met with a hologram of Thanos's head looking down and smirking at them. "Well, I see everyone is finally prepared." he calmly stated as his smirk dissipated. "Enough games Thanos, show us what you got!" Jasper shouted preparing for war. "Very well then," the most powerful being in the universe declared. "let the Secret Wars begin."

With a snap of his fingers, Thanos summoned entire legions of his alien armada. There were dozens of alien creatures all looking to kill, from the Chitauri to the Outriders, Sakaarans, Deviants, Kree, Cluster experiments and even corrupted Gems. "Look at all the alien bastards we have here!" Iron Man exclaimed cracking his knuckles. "How about we put on some appropriate music?"

His shoulder then spawned a miniature amp which started belting a tune that was all too familiar to Steven and the Crystal Gems. " _Some... say I have no direction, that I'm a light-speed distraction, that's a knee-jerk reaction._ " the familiar voice of a younger Greg Universe started playing on the amp, much to their astonishment. "No way, you're a fan of my dad's music too?!" Steven exclaimed cheerfully. "Yeah, sorry I didn't get to tell you earlier kid. This song in particular is my favorite."

"We can discuss music later everyone, here they come!" Captain America shouted as the armada charged straight at the champions. The war had finally begun. "Avengers assemble!"

Black Panther charged first, literally making sparks fly as he landed a series of kicks, lunges and claw-slashes on a platoon of Chitauri. Meanwhile Lapis and Peridot fought side by side taking out numerous Kree while Captain America charged straight at an Outrider. Jasper on the other hand was especially brutal, smacking a Sakaaran with a Cluster Gem before destroying them both. She then gunned for a Deviant with a feral grin before spindashing straight into it, causing its blood to fly all over her body and the battlefield. "Oh yes, this is just awesome!"

"Geez, is she always this brutal?" Tony wondered flying high above the warzone to gain an aerial advantage. "She is, but I've never seen her like this before." Pearl remarked as she watched the Quartz laugh madly as she stood atop a pile of alien corpses, reveling in the sheer carnage and adrenaline of the fight. "Speaking of which, Leviathans at twelve!" A fleet of Leviathans appeared over them as they all gazed toward them. "No worries everyone, I got this."

Iron Man flew toward one of the whale-like beasts and said a command to his suit. "J.A.R.V.I.S, how's that Proton Cannon working?" he asked his AI. "It's still undergoing testing, but I suppose we can take it for a run." J.A.R.V.I.S stated before a large laser cannon sprouted out of Tony's other shoulder and prepared to fire. Just then, the song he was playing reached its high point. " _At the moment that I hit the stage, I hear the universe calling my name! And I know deep down in my heart I have nothing to fear!_ "

"Target acquired," the Armored Avenger declared. "PROTON CANNON FIRE!" The Proton Cannon launched an enormous laser beam that reduced the Leviathan to a mechanical carcass before he did the same to all the others while everybody else looked on in amazement. "I am absolutely jealous right now." Peridot commented as she blasted a Deviant's head off.

* * *

Meanwhile on Battleworld's moon, Thanos viewed the conflict from afar on a mystical screen created by Mephisto and was enjoying the massacre. "Yes, this is exactly what I want! More bloodshed!" he cheered pumping his fist. "And I especially admire Jasper, what with her hunger for victory and how she annihilated half of my army. Wouldn't you agree Lady Death?"

Death gave him no answer, much to his displeasure. "I see you still refuse to talk mistress." the titan frowned and went back to watching the battle before Ebony Maw spoke up. "Master Thanos, may I make a suggestion?" the minion asked. "I grant you permission Maw."

"I suppose if she can truly be entertained, then why don't you send us down?" Maw asked gesturing to the rest of the Black Order standing behind him. "That is a very good idea." Thanos complied with a devious grin, almost as if he had plans for them. "Very well then, go down to Battleworld and do not come back until you have slaughtered them all."

The Order nodded in agreement and beamed themselves down to the patchwork world. But little did they know it would mean their doom.

* * *

 _Can't believe I managed to get this out before Infinity War premieres! Well hopefully you all enjoyed my adoring viewers, and don't forget to stay tuned for the third chapter "New Challengers!"_


	3. New Challengers

_AN: So it seems according to recent leaks that I shall refuse to disclose, this fic might as well be utterly destroyed by what's to come! I try to stick to Steven Universe canon as best as I can but it seems like I might place this and its predecessor Clod on the Run in its own AU, Earth-2013 I shall call it like your average part of the Marvel multiverse. But enough about timelines, let's get on with this latest chapter!_

* * *

 **Steven Universe: Secret Wars**

 **Part 2: Battleworld**

 **Chapter 3: New Challengers**

Sokovia was a peaceful country seated within Northern Europe neighboring its sister land Transia and the original home of Wanda & Pietro Maximoff before their father handed them over to HYDRA to further hone their mutant abilities. Currently making their way to its capital of Novi Grad were the Avengers, now consisting of the Vision, Bucky Barnes aka the Winter Soldier, War Machine, Falcon, She-Hulk, Ant-Man, the Wasp and Mantis in search of their fellow heroes to get help in rescuing the original six and their new comrades the Crystal Gems.

"So how were you able to find them again?" Bucky asked the android. "Why it's very simple Buchanan, I am able to track every Avenger whether they be on active duty or not thanks to my access to Iron Man's database." Vision stated. "I can't tell if that's kinda creepy or not, but who cares either way." She-Hulk snarked.

"Hopefully we can find them soon, I dug up this costume from my wardrobe because I thought it would be appropriate for an epic final showdown with Thanos." Janet declared gesturing to her current uniform, a black suit with yellow stripes on the torso & forearms with the antennae headphones still present. "Very well then, let's comb the city!" Ant-Man announced leading the search.

The group searched high and low across the city for the twins but to no avail. "Anything yet guys?" Rhodey asked. "No, nothing to see." Mantis answered. "Seems like we're on a wild goose chase in circles now." Jennifer commented. "See what I did there, mixing wild goose chases with walking circles?"

"Is anyone else going to mention that suspicious looking lady in the hoodie there?" Sam asked pointing to that very woman wearing a maroon colored hoodie walking out of a store. "That must be her!" Mantis cried preparing to chase after her. "Let's not get too excited Mantis, I suggest we tail Wanda and find out where she is living." Vision stopped the alien and making plans to follow her.

Wanda was now making her way home to the place that she and her brother had moved into after buying groceries. Ever since the reserve Avengers got word of the fate of Captain America, they assembled into a new team to take the place of the original six with the exception of Hank, Janet, Peter, Kamala and the twins. Fearing that Thanos would return someday, the two mutants retreated back to Sokovia until things would blow over until now.

"Hopefully this is enough to feed Pietro and I for a week." she muttered to herself before hearing a strange buzzing noise and just brushed it off. "What do you think she's gonna make with the stuff in that bag?" Janet asked. "Hopefully something delicious. Let's keep moving." Hank replied.

The group continued following the witch for a while longer, trying their hardest to avoid being caught. It wasn't long before one of them accidentally blew their cover, and that was Mantis. "Is it me or is it a little cold?" she asked, to which Rhodey replied by smacking his own face. "I mean, we are totally not here! You cannot see us at all!"

"Wh-what are you all doing here?" Wanda asked turning to her fellow crimefighters. "We've come to find you and Pietro Wanda. Our world might be in crisis soon and we require your help." Vision stated phasing into view. "Our friends have vanished and we're led to believe Thanos might be at play here."

"You mean they're all gone?" the mutant said. "All of them except for us." Hank declared folding his arms. "So then, are you willing to join?" Wanda gave no answer and simply ran off, possibly fearing that she will meet the same fate as Captain Rogers. "Quick, after her!" Bucky cried but the android stopped him. "No James, allow me. We have known each other far much longer and I can reach out to her." He then raced off after his lover.

Finally making it home, Wanda sighed deeply as she dropped the bag on the floor. "Brother, I'm back! Where are you?" she called for Pietro only to hear his jovial voice speaking to someone else. "Are you really sure Vis?" he asked. "I mean, she is strong but I hate to speak of her like this, but she ain't good enough against Thanos."

"Is something the matter here?" Scarlet Witch asked stepping into the living room to find her brother speaking with Vision. "Oh hey sis, we were just talkin' about you!" he shouted waving before the Avengers barged into her apartment. "Well this is awkward."

"Seriously, why is everyone following me around today?!" Wanda demanded. "We're here because we think you might be of great help to us." Bucky stated. "Do you think you have the power to locate our friends?" he asked. "I can try, but it might take some work." she stated sitting down on the couch and closed her eyes to concentrate. "It's okay sis, take your time!" Pietro coaxed her. "Oh sorry, I'll be quiet."

The witch began surrounding herself in an energy field before she began picturing a large shape with four arm-like attachments facing her before the picture became clearer. It was an Outrider roaring at her face before a red gloved fist socked it in the jaw. Then she found herself on some strange alien world fighting for her life alongside the other Avengers, the Crystal Gems and two strange faces. Then she looked down at herself to discover a blue torso with a white star on it before a voice called it.

"Rogers, quit staring at your abs and help me here!" Pearl cried out and that was when Wanda woke up and realized what happened. "I saw them!" she cried. "They were on some kind of alien world fighting for their lives."

"What kind of alien world?" Mantis asked. "There were so many of them merged into one and many creatures storming them." Wanda explained. "Then it's settled, that is where we're going!" Vision declared preparing to phase out of the apartment and return to the Quinjet before his lover stopped him. "No, I'm leaving with you too." the mutant stated. "The Avengers are our friends and the world, no, the universe needs them more than ever to save the universe from Thanos."

"That's the spirit sis!" Quicksilver cheered as the android and the witch embraced lovingly before their empowered comrades and then leaned in for a kiss.

* * *

Meanwhile in an exclusive private school in New York's Westchester County, a bald man in a wheelchair sits in the main study silently, motionless, alone with his indescribable thoughts. He continued to meditate until he was suddenly interrupted by a knock on his door.

"Professor, our guests have arrived." a voice on the other side announced opening the entrance to the study. The voice belonged to a large blue-furred ape-like humanoid clad in a labcoat, sweater-vest and spectacles holding a tablet. Behind him were four other people wearing blue uniforms bearing the number 4. They were led by a brown-haired man with white sideburns stretching his neck to get a better view, two blondes, a woman & a man and a large orange rock creature. These were Reed Richards, Susan & Johnny Storm and Ben Grimm, the Fantastic Four.

"Ah, Mr. & Mrs. Richards, Mr. Storm and Mr. Grimm, I am glad to see you received my summons." the man greeted them turning around in his wheelchair to face them. "Good to see you too Xavier, and Hank as well." Reed said shaking Xavier's hand. "So what are we all here for Chuck?" Johnny asked sitting down in a chair. "Yeah, spill it buddy!" the Thing added. "Very well then. McCoy?"

"Gladly Professor." Dr. Hank McCoy obeyed and sat the tablet down on the desk, tapping on it a few times to open up holograms of a news site detailing recent supervillain invasions of a small beachside town. "Recently, there have been reports of a town in Delmarva known as Beach City becoming the target of evildoers like Loki and MODOK yet its local defenders the Crystal Gems were able to defeat them." he explained making a hologram of four beings like New York's finest family only there was one young boy and three women of different shapes, sizes and colors. "We have yet to receive further details, but their appearances suggest alien origins."

"Ah yes, I quite remember those four quite well." Charles mused on the past. "Their leader Rose Quartz was a kindred spirit who shared my view of a world where all species can live in harmony. Though I have to wonder why isn't she present in these photos."

"Wait, what about that shield?" Susan commented zooming in on one particular picture to discover the boy defending Bruce Banner from the Absorbing Man with a pink spiral shield bearing a symbol that was quite familiar to Xavier. "It cannot be!" he gasped. "Yeah, he looks human but has a weapon of his own just like all the other ladies!" Ben declared. "You don't think..."

"Could his mother be a Gem as well?" Beast wondered. "This is certainly not like any other mutant I have seen before." Charles contemplated. "Perhaps we should pay this town a visit for further information."

"Speaking of mutants, have either of you seen Logan around anywhere?" Reed asked Hank and Xavier. "Last I checked, he was among the reserve Avengers called to Beach City." his wife said. "But where could he be now?"

* * *

Speaking of Wolverine, he was busy running toward a townhouse outside of Beach City in search of Steven's best friend Connie after Garnet told him to find her when the two of them disappeared. Hurriedly pounding on the door, the girl finally answered it to find him in a surprisingly panicked state. "Oh hello Logan, what brings you here?"

"Listen kid, I need to talk with you about Steven." the mutant exclaimed. "Is it okay if your folks let me in?" he asked. "I'll go check sir." Connie said before a voice cut them off. "I don't that'll be necessary Ms. Maheswaran." a man in a black coat standing behind Logan said. "I'll speak with them myself."

"Stay back Connie, this man could mean trouble!" Wolverine cautioned popping out his claws to face the man, but he was quickly disarmed and tossed onto the driveway. "I ain't backin' down so easy bub, I could fight you all day!"

"As could I James." the man replied taking off his hood to reveal a black man wearing a beanie cap and an eyepatch. Logan recognized that man from anywhere. "Fury?"

* * *

"So let me get this straight. You want our daughter to help you save the universe from some space warlord who has the power to annihilate billions with a snap of his fingers?" Connie's mother reiterated while the Maheswarans sat down with Wolverine and Nick Fury to discuss the situation.

"Exactly doctor. I've planted spies in Beach City, New York, Sokovia and Korea who've already informed me about the disappearance of some of Earth's mightiest heroes, including Iron Man, Hulk, Doctor Strange and Captain Marvel." Nick Fury stated. "Through some data we have gathered, it seems your daughter is quite proficient in swordsmanship through the Crystal Gem known as Pearl."

"Yep. I've actually met the girl myself and gotta say, she's quite versatile." Logan complimented Connie. "Plus I am pretty good with kids. You should see how many teenagers I've taken under my wing!" he added. "Well if you say so claws." Connie's dad finally gave in and they both shook Fury's hand. "I can assure you Mr. and Mrs. Maheswaran, your child is in good hands. Speaking of which."

He reached into his coat and pulled out a small card with the Avengers symbol and Connie's face on it. "A-are you serious?" she stammered. "Yes indeed Connie. As of today, you are an honorary Avenger." the director of S.H.I.E.L.D declared. "Now go on, tap it."

Taking a deep breath, Connie tapped on her Avengers ID and it began ringing. Then her voice started emitting from the card saying "Avengers assemble!"

* * *

Later at the Crystal Temple, Connie, Fury and the Avengers had gathered to discuss their plan of attack. "Thank you all for coming everyone." Connie announced. "We've gathered you all today to discuss the issue of the Mad Titan Thanos."

"Indeed. Through miss Maximoff here, we are led to believe Earth's mightiest heroes are trapped on an alien world forced to fight some of the greatest threats to the galaxy in a game of survival." Nick Fury added. "This planet is called Battleworld, inhabited by Thanos himself, his minions and his beloved Lady Death." Scarlet Witch followed up. "If we can find a way to travel to this world, our victory is assured."

"Well obviously we need a spaceship, but where can we get one?" Logan inquired while Cat Steven rested on his hairy forearm. "What about that pink guy and his weirdo friends? What was his name again?" Wasp suggested. "Lars and the Off-Colors would be of great help to us, but sadly the Sun Incinerator needs repairs yet again." Connie said. "And sadly we don't have Peridot around to help us out."

"Hey I got an idea!" Spider-Man called. "Why not find the Guardians of the Galaxy? They got a working spaceship." Everyone then readily agreed with the webslinger. "That's a phenomenal idea Peter, but I fear we cannot locate them."

"I got that covered Vision." the director of S.H.I.E.L.D interrupted the synthezoid. "Satellite images have discovered them at the ruins of some sort of barn calling out for that Peridot." he explained. "Oh, that must be where they are!" Mantis exclaimed. "They could've been trying to help Peridot when she disappeared!"

"Gee, it's almost as if the viewers haven't read the previous two chapters." Jennifer snarked before she received a firm glare from Logan, though it was made unintentionally amusing with the sight of Cat Steven on his arm. "Okay I'll stop, I promise."

"Then it's settled, off to the barn!" Connie declared before waking up Lion. "Lion, think you can take all of us there?" she asked the rose-colored feline, who looked at the rest of the visitors before beckoning a few of them onto his back. "Never really thought I'd ride a lion quite like this one someday!" Peter quipped as he saddled up on Lion along with Mantis, Bucky, Logan and Connie. "But then again, one of the members of my ginormous rogues gallery is a hunter."

"But what about the rest of us?" Hank inquired. "You can all take the Warp Pad over there. It can literally take you anywhere, but humans can't really use it on their own." Connie explained. "But we do have this!" She searched around the bookshelf below her best friend's bedroom before uncovering a small flute-like object.

"That's it, some kinda whistle?" Rhodey wondered picking it up. "Must be pretty important. Let's see what happens when I play it." Sam commented before taking the instrument out of Rhodey's hands and playing it, making the warp pad activate. "Hot damn, it can do that?!" he exclaimed in wonder. "There's no time for questions, we have to leave now!" Pym commanded leading one group to the Warp Pad while the others riding Lion headed off to the barn.

* * *

"Peridot, where are you?!" Star-Lord called out for his short green friend. "You don't suppose she disappeared, did she?" Rocket asked. "I don't think so. If she did disappear, we'd probably find her standing incredibly still somewhere around here." Drax answered before Yondu slapped the back of his head. "No ya idjit, we saw her vanish in that beam 'a light!"

"Speaking of beams of light, look over there!" Gamora exclaimed pointing to the nearby Warp Pad activating and Nick walking towards them with some of the Avengers behind him and Lion appearing out of a portal with Connie, Spidey, Mantis, Barnes & Wolverine on his back.

"Hi everyone!" Mantis cheerfully greeted her fellow Guardians hopping off of the cat and running to hug them all. "Mantis, you're back!" Peter exclaimed squeezing her tight and the other Guardians joined in as well. "I am Groot!" Groot exclaimed wrapping them all in his extendable arms. "Oh, and you too Connie." Rocket said wiggling himself out of the group hug to greet her himself. "Where were you when Thanos came down?"

"Steven wanted me to stay away from him for my own safety." Connie answered looking down at her feet. "I think he made the right choice. Thanos would've probably killed you in order to force the Gems to hand over the Mind Stone." Gamora said. "Hey, that's kinda what I said!" Spider-Man added.

"Speaking of which, Thanos had captured both the Avengers & the Crystal Gems, forcing them to fight on his own Battleworld and now it's us to save them and stop him." Ant-Man stated. "But where do we go from here?" Drax asked. "Simple, we tune up the Milano and lift off!" Star-Lord declared. "But the bad news is, it kinda went kaput."

"How?!" Connie exclaimed in confusion before the space heroes all looked at Pumpkin, who was playing with a part of the ship. "C'mon you little rascal, gimme that!" Rocket snarled chasing after the gourd mutt while the Avengers looked on in confusion. "Care to explain that?" Hank asked pointing at the two critters. "Gem magic, what else?" Connie answered with a shrug.

"Isn't seeing them chase each other just adorable?" Janet said gazing affectionately at them. "I know right!" Mantis agreed. "The crabby puppy and the orange thing are just so cute!"

"Can we not talk about that and get to work already?!" Rocket cried finally snatching the ship part out of Pumpkin's mouth. "Good, and I got just the perfect montage music for it!" Star-Lord exclaimed turning on "Rubberband Man" on his Walkman and everyone got to work.

One montage later, the Milano was finally restored and ready for lift-off. "Finally, seems like it took forever!" Rocket exclaimed preparing to get on board. "Wait just a second. Before you go, I have a little speech prepared for you all. Passage I've got memorized too as well." Fury stated as three more men in black coats stepped up from behind him and pulled off their hoods, revealing themselves as Agents Coulson, Lee and Kirby. Clearing his throat, Nick began to speak.

"The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the iniquities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men." he began reciting Ezekial 25:17. "Hey, doesn't this remind you of that one movie?" Kamala whispered to Quill. "Yeah, Pulp Fiction." Quill whispered back before Hank interrupted them and Fury continued.

"Blessed is he who in the name of charity and goodwill shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers!" His speech began getting more intense, as if getting the heroes pumped up. "And you will know my name is the Lord... when I lay my vengeance upon thee!" he finally concluded and was met with applause. "There you have it everyone. Avengers assemble."

"Thank you Director Fury. Wish us luck!" Connie thanked Nick as all the heroes, the Guardians and Lion included, boarded the Milano and prepared to take off. "Hang on Steven, we're coming for you!"

With that, the spaceship finally took off, leaving Fury, Coulson, Lee, Kirby and Pumpkin watching the skies. "I still don't get it." Lee said. "Why's the lion pink?"

* * *

 _Finally, after much anticipation the third chapter is here! Sorry for keeping you waiting folks, writer's block is a pain. But during that long wait, I saw Deadpool 2 which gave me tons of idea for future stories of Earth-2013. But enough about that, join us next time for the Secret Wars finally begin. Until then, keep the peace & love on the planet Earth._


	4. The Masters of Evil

_AN: And we're back everyone! Oh boy oh boy Heart of the Crystal Gems is going to be (or at the time I would post this, was) a wild ride that I can't wait to take part in with my fellow SU fans. But now it's time we return to Earth-2013 for a bit to see how our heroes will win out against evil and save the universe. Please note that some scenes may be a bit disturbing, so reader discretion is advised._

* * *

 **Steven Universe: Secret Wars**

 **Part 2: Battleworld**

 **Chapter 4: The Masters of Evil**

"So these Crystal Gems, they call themselves, could they be mutants or perhaps aliens?" US Senator Robert Kelly asked while he, along with a few other political and military figures, held a secret meeting to discuss the Crystal Gems.

"Based off of what this young Ronaldo chap said on his blog, they are indeed aliens but where did they come from? Why are they here? What is their purpose?" government agent Everett Ross answered with questions of his own. "Any input Thunderbolt?"

"I fear they are not to be trusted!" General Thaddeus Ross declared pounding his fist on the table. "If what this blogger says is true, then they were responsible for the monster attacks, the disappearance of the ocean, the giant hand, the earthquakes, that Chitauri invasion and Thanos! We must take action immediately!"

"Calm yourself sir, might I recommend we wait until the time is right to act?" Ross's subordinate Glenn Talbot suggested. "Talbot is right gentlemen, maybe these so-called Gems could be of use to us." President Matthew Ellis, who organized the meeting, stated. "I especially see promise in their young sidekick with the shield. Reminds me a lot of Captain America."

"What is this about gemstones I hear?" another man with silvery white hair, blue eyes, a dark blue suit and a red tie announced stepping into the room. "It seems we have quite a collection of government powers in just one room."

"Secretary of defense Truman Marsh?! We thought you died!" Kelly exclaimed aghast at the sight of Marsh appearing before them after he had seemingly perished. "I guess reports of my demise were greatly exaggerated." Truman commented with a shrug before he sat down with the men. "So tell me my friends, what brings us all together here?"

"We're not telling you until you tell us how you're alive and well Truman, if that is your real name!" General Ross shouted. "Now, when were you born, when did you die and how?"

"I was born on July 10, 1968 in Jackson, Missouri and died on May 1, 2015 in quite a nasty car accident." the former secretary of defense answered putting up a charismatic facade, but they all knew something was up with him. "Now then, about these Crystal Gems gentlemen."

President Ellis finally gave up and began explaining. "Recently, there was a large spike in alien activity originating from a town in Delmarva called Beach City, which is home to a group of odd women known as the Crystal Gems. This spike rose higher when the alien warlord Thanos invaded the town and utterly clobbered the Gems."

"Oh really, and who else was present that time?" Marsh pressed for more questions.

"Aside from those Gems, others that were present were the Avengers and those Guardian weirdos." the president continued. "Among the Avengers were Captain Steve Rogers, Tony Stark, Dr. Bruce Banner, Thor Odinson, former S.H.I.E.L.D agents Natasha Romanoff & Clint Barton, Captain Carol Danvers, King T'Challa of Wakanda, Dr. Stephen Strange, Spider-Man, Dr. Hank Pym and Janet van Dyne."

Marsh's eyebrows perked when he heard Ellis mention Stark, Banner & Pym. "Well, I think I might know how to handle these Gems." he stated. "But I require that you play along with my ideas."

* * *

"Hear me, and rejoice! You have the privilege of being purged by the Great Titan." Ebony Maw, one of Thanos's minions, declared as he and the Black Order stood before the champions of Earth on Battleworld. "You may think this is suffering. No, it is salvation!" he continued on as the champions prepared to fight. The Crystal Gems & the Avengers were ready to put an end to Thanos's reign of terror while Jasper plotted on taking revenge on him for her late superior Pink Diamond. "The universal scales tip toward balance because of your fate. Smile, for even in death you have become children of Thanos."

"This is our plan everyone, we just mow them down, take on whatever else Thanos throws at us, then we blow his planet to bits and go home." Iron Man commanded.

"Hulk, Tony the Tiger, you go after Black Dwarf." he said to Hulk & Jasper. "Oscar, you and I knock Ebony Maw down a peg." he then turned to Peridot. "Nat & Woody Woodpecker go against Corvus, Danvers & LSP with Proxima Midnight and finally Garnet & Cap versus Supergiant. Are we clear on that?"

"I have one question." Pearl piped in. "Did you seriously just call me a woodpecker?!" she shouted in the billionaire's face. "Metal man got point, pointy woman kinda look like bird." Banner commented pointing at her nose before she covered it in embarrassment. "And who is this Tony the Tiger?" Jasper added. "Cereal mascot, his Frosted Flakes are just great!" Spider-Man answered. "But we don't have time to discuss food right now."

"Yes, now we fight." Garnet declared before leaping up and charging at Supergiant, who retaliated with an energy barrier while Ebony Maw summoned more Chitauri & Outriders with a snap of his fingers using his telepathy and the battle commenced.

It was at that first attack that the final battle for the fate of not just Earth, not just the human race, but all life in the universe has begun.

"Your abilities are inconsequential compared to ours!" Maw boasted tossing a crystal spire at Stark, who deflected it with a blast from his repulsors. "Yeah well I've got an alien kicking ass with me!" the armored genius responded punching him in the face. "Now Peri!"

"Just a fair warning, I'm still pretty rusty with these." Peridot cautioned aiming her plasma cannon at the minion of Thanos and fired, though she kind of missed as the energy ball bounced across the area before smacking Maw. "Hey, least you tried kid."

Elsewhere, Hulk, Jasper and Black Dwarf went all out against each other. "HULK SMASH DWARFIE, HULK HATE DWARFIE!" Bruce roared smashing as he always would while Dwarf slashed at the gamma beast's arm with his axe. "Surrender yourself monster! Thanos is almighty and his forces just as so!" Black Dwarf boasted. "Quit your bragging Dwarf and come and fight me!" Jasper challenged him. "Let me handle this Hulk, I've known him for far longer! Thousands of years even!"

"What makes you think you can best me like when we fought during the Rebellion?" Black Dwarf asked. The quartz simply responded by wordlessly grabbing him by the arm, smashing him into the ground, standing him up and then finishing it off by punching straight through his chest and grasped his literal heart in her large hand.

"You utter animal!" Black Dwarf gasped his final words before collapsing over dead. "Seems he's gotten weaker since we last fought." Jasper commented dropping her now deceased opponent's heart to the ground and stepping on it, much to the horror of everyone else present, even the remainder of the Black Order. "Jasper, what did you do?!" Steven cried in alarm. "That guy may have been evil, but deep down they were still-"

"Don't give me another about how all life is precious Rose!" Jasper interrupted the boy. "When you're faced with Thanos, it's either kill or be killed!" She then got an idea as she turned her attention to Ebony Maw. "Speaking of which..."

"Oh no, everybody retreat! Thanos is letting us die!" the Maw cried out before Jasper pounced him and hoisted him by the neck. "Uh, anyone not pissing themselves in fear wanna stop her?!" Hawkeye asked. "Allow me." Doctor Strange declared summoning a Crimson Chain of Cyttorak and wrapping it around Jasper's neck trying to pull her away. "No one try and stop me! Thanos has to pay!"

"Please great and powerful Thanos, spare my life!" Ebony Maw screamed for his master before his fear turned into rage. "So that I may exact my reven-" He didn't have enough time to swear revenge before Jasper snapped his neck before casually dropping his corpse to her feet. "By Odin's beard, she actually did it." Thor gasped. "Jasper may be violent, but not this violent." Lapis added. "I wonder if it has to do with Thanos."

Speaking of Thanos, he was too busy reveling in Jasper murdering his minions to even care. "It seems I have a potential new second in command." he muttered gleefully. "I suppose you find this satisfying as well my bride?" Lady Death only replied with a small grin. It may not have been any words out of her mouth, but it was something. "Yes, very satisfying milord." Mephisto stated. "But what of the others now?"

"Please Jasper, just stop! The Black Order don't matter now, Thanos might come down any moment!" Garnet warned Jasper. "Zip it fusion and let me exact my revenge!" the Gem warrior screamed before launching a spin attack straight at the remaining servants of the Mad Titan. "Quickly everyone, back to the moon!" Corvus ordered his surviving comrades and they made a run for it. Well, two of them did.

Before she even realized it, Supergiant was caught in the path of Jasper's attack and slammed into some nearby rubble, almost grinding her into nothing until her blood coated the Gem's hair. "Ah, feels like old times!" Jasper shouted with a sadistic grin. "Now go along you two, run back to your master. But tell him I'm coming."

The remains of the Black Order did as they were told before running off and were teleported away, presumably to Thanos's moon castle. Jasper's psycho smile then turned into a firm frown before turning back to her situational allies. "What are you all looking at?!"

"We've seen many lives taken during the war, but none as gruesome as this." Pearl mused. "And I never seen her this bloodhungry before." Amethyst added. "It seems she shares the same vitriol towards Thanos as we do, but prefers to vent it in a more physical manner." Black Panther deduced. "But what matters now is that we all work together to stop him."

* * *

"It seems the carnage has stopped for now your holiness." Mephisto deduced as the three deities watched the champions settle down from the tussle with the Black Order when suddenly, they heard Corvus and Proxima teleport into the temple, Corvus being especially furious over their master's betrayal.

"How could you Thanos?! You simply dropped us down there to be game for that Quartz!" he shouted at the titan who just rolled his eyes. "You two are supposed to be arch-enemies and now it seems you want her to become one of your new minions!"

Before the leader of the Black Order could speak any further, Thanos grabbed him by the neck and held him high in the air. "Perhaps you should think twice before speaking out against a tyrant like myself."

The Reality, Time & Soul Stones on the Infinity Gauntlet began to glow and before Corvus knew it, he found himself disappearing into dust. "What are you doing with me?!" he cried in terror. "Balancing the universe for my beloved, what else?" Thanos gave one last snide remark as his late second in command vanished with a loud scream and his glaive clattered onto the ground.

"No! No no no no no no no!" Proxima cried for her husband and picking up his weapon. "What did you do to him you monster?!" she screamed with nothing but sorrow and rage filling her eyes. "I suppose you would like to join him Midnight?" Thanos offered her preparing to disintegrate her just like Corvus. "Mephisto did say Hell is quite roomy."

Proxima Midnight simply said nothing before she plunged her late husband's namesake weapon into her chest & out her back and then, she finally collapsed dead on the floor before her master. Thanos gazed at her body before looking towards an Outrider. "Take her away." he simply commanded the alien soldier and it complied, picking her up and carrying her out.

"I suppose that pleased you as well my dear?" Thanos asked Death, but she gave no answer. "I shall take that as a yes." he answered for her before stepping outside his temple and gazing down upon the champions. "Now then, unleash the Masters of Evil!"

"Wait master, stop!" Mephisto cried interrupting his commands. "What is it that you want now Mephisto?" the Mad Titan inquired. "I have detected an unknown vessel headed straight for Battleworld, specifically the champions' current location!"

The alliance between the Avengers & the Crystal Gems had little time to rest before they spotted a familiar spaceship soaring towards them blasting "Cherry Bomb" by the Runaways. Both teams knew exactly who it was by the music alone, the Guardians of the Galaxy have come for them.

"What even is that horrible noise?" Jasper shouted covering her ears in disgust. "That's not noise, that's 70s punk rock!" Steven exclaimed. "And there's only one spaceship that could make an entrance with that." Pearl remarked.

"HERE WE COME TO SAVE THE DAA-AAY!" Star-Lord heroically declared flying the Milano downward. "How did we even manage to detect them so fast?!" Connie wondered standing next to him. "I don't know, maybe the author just wanted to introduce us faster." She-Hulk quipped before Wolverine glared at her again. "What did we say Jen?"

"Okay I'll stop the gag for good. Besides, Deadpool might appear someday too." Jen replied and Logan just responded to that with a facepalm. "That's exactly what I dread." he groaned. "We can banter later guys, look!" Wasp exclaimed pointing straight toward the group. "Excellent, let's touch down." Rocket said preparing for landing.

The Milano finally touched down and out of it came their cavalry. "Guys!" the Guardians exclaimed rushing toward their fellow heroes. "Steven!" Connie shouted running up to her best friend and hugging him. "We were all so worried for you!"

"And it seems the gang's all here! Hank, Jan, Parker, Wanda, Pietro, Vision, even Bucky!" Tony commented. "Good to see you're still alive Steve." Bucky greeted his old friend with a handshake followed by a hug. "Nice to see you too sergeant."

"I am Groot!" Groot shouted hugging Lapis and Peridot in his arms. "Groot, we missed you too!" the green Gem responded wrapping her metallic arms around the tree alien's neck. "I am Groot?" he wondered curious about his friend's new form. "Oh, these are just limb enhancers like the ones I had before I joined the Crystal Gems."

"So, you must be Jasper correct?" Rocket inquired to Jasper. "What kind of freak are you supposed to be?" the larger quartz wondered with a sneer. "Freak?! I ain't just a freak, I'm a one of a kind maniac! There ain't nobody else in this universe like me except me!"

"So how did you guys manage to find us?" Steven asked Spider-Man. "Why you can thank Scarlet Witch for tracking you down and Wolvy & Bucky for bringing us all together." the webslinger answered. "You're welcome kid, but let's stop being all heartfelt reunion-y with each other." Logan stated. "We still got a certain purple madman to take care of."

"Indeed my combatants. With the arrival of our new challengers, it's time we up the ante a bit." Thanos boomed from his moon and the champions were all surrounded in beams of light. "What's happening to us now?!" Ant-Man exclaimed. "Damn you foolish beacons, you cannot contain Drax!" Drax screamed trying to break free before he vanished along with Steven, Thor & Doctor Strange.

"Steven!" Pearl cried out before she vanished along with Carol, Natasha & Gamora, followed by Garnet, Amethyst, Bucky & Wasp, Spidey, Lapis, Mantis & Kamala, Connie, Hulk, Groot & Wolverine, Cap, Bismuth, Star-Lord & T'Challa and Stark, Peridot, Rocket & Pietro.

Next to vanish were Rhodey, Wanda, Vision, Hank & Falcon and finally Jasper, Hawkeye, Yondu, Lion and She-Hulk.

"The game has been set and our warriors assembled." Thanos declared reclining in his throne with a devious smirk. "Let the Secret Wars begin."

* * *

The first to reappear were Connie's team in the middle of an abandoned gladiatorial arena. "Where the hell are we?" Wolverine wondered. "Hulk know this place." Banner stated. "Hulk's enemies sent him here long time ago. Hulk then become a gladiator and lead rebellion against red man alongside rock thing and bug."

"Speaking of red man, is he the one?" Connie asked pointing to a red-skinned male wearing a gold war-suit standing before them. "Well if it isn't my traitorous champion." the man calmly stated unsheathing his sword. "And it seems you have a few plus-ones."

"Who are you supposed to be?!" Connie exclaimed pulling out her own sword. "So this little morsel with her own sword doesn't know who I am? How very quaint." the war-suit clad man smirked. "I am Angmo-Asan II, deposed ruler of the planet Sakaar. But you may refer to me as the Red King." he introduced himself. "Now then, shall we engage in combat?"

"Don't take red man lightly, that war-suit is strong. But still not as strong as Hulk." Banner cautioned the smaller girl. "Well what are we waitin' for bub? Let's do it to it!" Logan exclaimed popping his claws and charging at the Red King, who reacted with a blast of flames from the palms of his war-suit. "Your claws are nothing to me miniscule lifeform! I only want the girl with the pink sword!"

"You mean me?" Connie asked. "Yes child, I have a feeling you might be gifted in the art of swordsmanship so that is why I choose you to face me!" Angmo-Asan stated. "Do you accept my challenge young one?" he offered pointing his weapon at her. Connie hesitantly looked back & forth between the fallen king and her blade before she finally put on a brave face and pointed it at Asan. "I accept your challenge!"

"I am Groot!" Groot cried out for her before Hulk shoved him aside. "No, we only step in if little girl is in trouble." he said in a surprisingly calm and rational tone. "Otherwise, this her fight."

"Are you ready yet young one?" the Red King asked Connie, who was busy repeating "Keep my stance wide, keep my body lowered." to herself before taking a fighting stance. "Okay, come at me!" she exclaimed and the two charged at one another. Angmo made the first move with a mighty thrust that Connie quickly dodged before parrying.

"You most certainly have good form, but I've had many years of training while you are simply a novice!" the former ruler of Sakaar bragged making another attack. "Well I trained under a professional who actually fought in a war!" Connie replied preparing to block, but failed and received a cut on her arm, dropping her sword. "Well it seems this teacher didn't train you enough. Now on your knees."

Connie was then forced to kneel before the Red King who then brought his blade to her neck, pretty much preparing to execute her. "Once I'm done here with you, the other fools here will be next and then the rest of your friends will fall to Thanos!" he shouted. "Any last requests?"

"Yeah," the girl said looking up at a large figure stepping behind her executioner with a smirk. "look behind you." she declared. Angmo was reluctant to comply until he turned to discover the Hulk, looking as furious as usual, standing right behind him before he roared. "HULK HATE WHEN BAD PEOPLE HURT KIDS!" he screamed. "NOW HULK GONNA SMASH YOU AGAIN, CAUSE HULK STRONGEST THERE IS!"

"Not if I smash you first!" the Red King shouted firing missiles out of his mechanical arms at Hulk before he was suddenly torn out of his war-suit and punched downward by the radioactive beast. Wolverine & Groot then took their turn pummeling him before the tyrant had his vacant mechanical armor tipped over by a still-injured Connie right on top of him, killing him off.

"Heh heh, now little king squashed." Hulk declared chuckling before he felt a sudden pain in his chest and regressed back into Bruce Banner. "Oh my gosh, Mr. Banner!" Connie exclaimed rushing to his side. "Are you alright? Steven has healing spit that'll help you!"

"You're worrying too much kid, it's just chest pains. And please call me Bruce." Banner said. "But speaking of which, let's get that scratch on your arm checked out." He then grabbed her by the limb and closely examined the wound given to her by the late ex-ruler of Sakaar. "Doesn't seem too severe, but we're gonna need some gauze just in case."

"So I suppose you're gonna need my help Bruce?" Logan asked. "That's exactly what I was gonna say. Use your claws to cut off a bit of my pants for her." The mutant complied, carefully slicing out a portion of Bruce's purple jeans with his metal claws and handed it to Groot, who neatly tied it around the wound. "There we go, just let it sit until we can find the others and you'll be right as rain."

"Thanks Bruce." Connie gratefully said before Groot walked over to the abandoned war-suit and started looking at it. "I am Groot!" he exclaimed pointing at the machine. "What is it Groot?" the gamma radiation genius asked. "I think he's trying to say that the Red King's suit might be of use to us somehow." Connie stated. "But how?"

"Well, let's just take it and camp out here until someone finds us." Wolverine suggested putting the suit back in an upright position before they all realized Angmo-Asan was suddenly missing. "What the?! Where did that scarlet sissy off too?!" Logan cursed in frustration. "He wouldn't be able to run off like a baby so what happened?!"

Unbeknownst to them, ashes were floating around the arena before they simply decided to brush it off and find somewhere to rest while being watched by an unknown figure in a black coat.

* * *

In a wasteland covered in black sludge, Spider-Man, Lapis Lazuli, Mantis and Ms. Marvel appeared out of beams of light before examining their surroundings. "Where are we guys?" Lapis wondered. "Judging by the fact we're in space and surrounded by black goo." Peter began before Kamala started speaking in unison with him. "We must be in symbiote territory!"

"Symbiotes? Aren't they those slime creatures that go searching for hosts?" Mantis asked her teammates. "Oh you bet they are Mantis! In fact, there's actually a few of them on Earth." Kamala stated. "Like Carnage, Toxin, Anti-Venom and the big man himself, Venom!"

"Speaking of which, I think I can see one that looks a lot like him." Peter shushed them all and they patiently waited for someone to appear. "And my Spider-Sense can't track this guy. Be on your guard everyone."

It wasn't long before the symbiote leaped from out of nowhere and let out a mighty roar. "Wait a minute, you too Venom?!" Peter exclaimed in shock. "You are indeed correct human, I am indeed similar to the symbiote on Earth that you are familiar with, but in reality I am not him!" the alien explained. "When Thanos arrived on Klyntar, he ordered that we bring him one of our own, which turned out to be me before he destroyed our planet and used its remains as part of Battleworld!"

"Enough talk, we came here to kick your butt!" Ms. Marvel cried enlarging her hands. "Embiggen!" She used her Inhuman powers to try and restrain the symbiote but sadly failed. "You are insignificant to me child, I only want someone who has suffered great pain to make myself stronger!" the symbiote exclaimed slithering out of her grasp. "And I think I know just the one."

Examining each of his other opponents, Venom used telepathy to take note of whatever they've been through. Reading Peter's mind, he discovered that he was still grieving the loved ones he's lost like his parents and his uncle. For Mantis, he learned she was taken from her home and used by a powerful being who lied about how she was destined for something greater.

But for Lapis, he was hit with a tsunami of trauma. Getting caught in the Rebellion, sealed in the mirror & interrogated after being mistaken for a Crystal Gem, left behind on Earth, taken by Pearl & being forgotten for thousands of years, eventually being released & returning to her home planet only to be imprisoned once again, trapping Jasper in Malachite & torturing her for revenge and finally leaving Earth with the barn thinking the Diamonds would attack.

"Oh yes, so much pain! Negativity is maximum!" Venom screeched leaping toward Lapis and latching onto her. "Hey, what are you doing?!" the Gem cried trying to flee from the symbiote's grasp. "Gaining more power! Our abilities combined would make us unstoppable!"

"No please, let me go!" Lapis screamed in terror, not wanting to relive Malachite all over again. "I've already suffered enough!" she continued struggling but to no avail. "Don't worry Lapis, I'll save you!" Peter called out firing a web-line to stop Venom, only for the ooze creature to latch himself onto it. "Oh, walked right into that one!"

"A Gem combined with Spider-Man, this has to be a dream!" Venom cheered as he prepared to possess the two of them. "Uh guys, could use a little help here!" the webslinger exclaimed to Kamala & Mantis. "I can't keep him contained, he'll just slip out!" the young NuHuman said before she turned to the Guardian. "Wait a minute! Mantis, what can you do?"

"Well I can do lots of things like feeling the emotions of people I touch and put others to sleep." Mantis stated. "And symbiotes have a weakness to sonic frequencies, I think we got it!" Kamala declared. "I'm gonna need you to make it go to sleep Manty, but it's gonna be risky! That thing loves taking other's bodies, and it doesn't have any money to buy them dinner!"

"But what if he has money?" Mantis asked. "It's a figure of speech, now get him!" Ms. Marvel shouted and the alien obeyed with a nod, racing toward the symbiote with her hands out. "Another one wants to join I see! Well there's always enough room for everyone!"

"Don't worry you guys, I'll save you!" Mantis cried placing her hands on the symbiote's gooey form and briefly felt herself about to become one with him before she prepared to unleash her powers. "Go...to..." she muttered while her antennae glowed and Venom felt an odd sensation before he realized what was going to happen. "Oh no." he cried before Mantis let her abilities loose. "SLEEEEEP!"

The alien screamed in pain as he accidentally freed Lapis & Spidey from his grasp, wincing at the soundwaves making him tremble. "Now's our chance!" Lapis exclaimed forming Venom's liquid form into a ball before Spider-Man covered it with his webs. "Go Kamala!"

"You got it!" Ms. Marvel exclaimed tossing her enlarged fist back before giving the balled-up Venom a devastating punch, sending him off to parts unknown. "I will return!" he screamed before he became nothing but another star in the sky.

"Woohoo, we did it!" Peter cried hugging Lapis in celebration. "Yeah, you did it. I was nothing but some damsel in distress like in some of those movies." the ocean Gem said solemnly. "It was all thanks to you three that I wasn't made the slave of some goo monster."

"Aw don't feel like that buddy, I loved how you squished Venom into a little ball long enough for Peter to web him up." Kamala reassured her. "Yes, you don't have to keep being so hard on yourself. Maybe someday you can become a Crystal Gem and fight alongside your friends, especially Peridot." Mantis added. "Speaking of which, we all make a pretty good team."

"You're right Mantis. Which one of you was struck with a bolt of brilliance to find out Venom's weakness?" Spider-Man asked. "It was thanks to my extensive knowledge of supers combined with Mantis's powers that saved your asses." Ms. Marvel bragged. "But what do we do now? Seems like the others might still be fighting."

"I suggest we just camp out here until someone finds us." Lapis suggested sitting down. "At least we won't have to worry about that thing menacing us now."

"That sounds like a great idea. Too bad we don't have marshmallows and a campfire." Peter snarked and the four of them laughed, while a figure in a black cloak watched over them.

* * *

Next up was Pearl, Gamora, Black Widow and Captain Marvel appearing in the middle of a futuristic city. "Where are we?" Pearl wondered examining her surroundings before bringing forth her spear. "I recognize this place. This is obviously Hala, the home planet of the Kree race." Carol explained. "Though given the lack of wars and general unrest around here, I'd say Thanos put them on the snapping block too."

"Indeed he has!" a blue-skinned woman in green armor declared from on top of a building. Jumping down, Gamora immediately recognized their opponent. "Hala the Accuser. Who would've guessed Thanos would make you one of his minions?"

"Thanos promised that he would lock the Kree in an eternal war in exchange for my services." Hala declared pointing her staff at the four women. "But why would you want one when Thanos basically got rid of your army?!" Pearl exclaimed preparing for combat. "Sounds a bit counter-productive, I must say."

"Enough talk, fight me!" Hala exclaimed charging at them, staff at the ready. Tossing it like a javelin, Pearl narrowly avoided it before stabbing Hala in the torso, puncturing her armor. "Now girls!"

Natasha then fired her pistols before following up with a high kick that sent the Kree Accuser flying into a building. And speaking of flying, Captain Marvel charged at the villainess at high speeds, tackling Hala and pushing her through several buildings before dropping her to the ground, where she was greeted with Gamora socking her in the face and disarming her with her sword.

"It's over Hala. We've won." the former minion of Thanos declared pointing at their defeated opponent with her own staff. "No, you don't understand! If I dare lose to you, Thanos will unleash a power unlike any other!" the Accuser cried begging for mercy before she realized that her hand was already turning to dust, followed by the rest of her arm and then her entire being.

"So if his minions lose to us, they're disintegrated?!" Pearl cried out in horror. "Even if Hala was a criminal wanted across tons of galaxies, she definitely didn't deserve to end up like nothing." Danvers responded picking up her staff. There was a brief moment of silence between the four women for their fallen opponent before they split up to investigate the city while a black-covered figure watched them from high above.

* * *

Iron Man, Peridot, Rocket and Quicksilver reappeared on what looked like the Great Wall of China, but it was surrounded by rather futuristic architecture and heaps of metal near it. "So, who we fightin' now?" Rocket inquired before they heard a faint rumbling noise followed by a loud roar. Suddenly, a large green Chinese-esque dragon wearing purple made an entrance before the group, roaring once again to strike fear into them.

"Oh, hey Fin Fang Foom." Tony casually greeted the beast who glared at him in response. "A Makluan?! We gotta run!" Peridot screamed running as fast as her limb enhancers could. "You have no idea what you're up against Stark, that thing is an absolute monster!"

"What are you so scared about Dottie? I've faced this guy tons of times before, I can handle him." the Armored Avenger declared before the alien dragon swiped at him, but Tony managed to blast off at the right moment and joined Peridot in hiding.

"Oh I see, this is the classic scenario where the knight in shining armor and his trusted companions have to guard the princess from the fearsome dragon." Quicksilver snarked. "I'll provide cover while you guys think of a plan. I've known him longer so that oughta distract him longer." Tony decided before flying toward the Makluan. "Hey Godzilla, you missed me?!"

"How could I not Stark?" Fin Fang Foom growled launching a wave of fire at the Avenger. "Thanks to Thanos, I have grown so much stronger than you!" he boasted striking his human nemesis down with a knife block, but Stark responded with one last repulsor blast before he crashed down at Rocket's paws. "Anything guys?"

"Well, while you were nearly digging your own grave, Pietro, Rocket and I have decided on one plan that can take him down." Peridot explained. "And that's build a giant laser cannon!" Rocket exclaimed laughing madly. "We're just gonna need tons of scrap metal lying around to help us here."

"Oh look at that, we're practically surrounded by all the junk we need!" Quicksilver exclaimed spreading his arms out to get the others to notice the materials they required. "Okay, while you guys work on the thing I'll go and distract him next."

"Good plan Sonic." Tony answered before he began getting to work on gathering the metal. Meanwhile Peridot worked together with Rocket on the schematics of the cannon. "So we're going to need a static engine for this one? You got any P?" the raccoon stated. "I'm sure my limb enhancers could provide a good substitute. To wit, if you can help me take them off."

"Well how does that work anyway?" Rocket asked jiggling at the Gem's metallic foot. "I think you might need to press the yellow diamond on the knees and elbows." Peridot suggested while demonstrating how to do so with her left limb. "See?"

"Uh guys, any minute now!" Pietro cried continuing to run from Fin Fang Foom. "Give it time Gonzales, never rush genius you know!" Peridot shouted before Tony finally returned with the scraps they needed. "Got 'em all gang! Let's get to work!"

While the three geniuses got to work on constructing the laser cannon, Quicksilver on the other hand was running for his life away from the dragon alien who continued to launch fire from his mouth. "Why am I running like this?! I ain't no coward!" he said to himself. "I'm a damned Avenger, and ain't no one is going to bring me down!"

Just as he made his bold declaration, time suddenly skidded to a halt. Everything was completely frozen in place except for the speedster himself who took advantage of this to further inflict damage on the Makluan beast. Pietro sped forward with a strong uppercut before kicking him in the eye. He then finished it off with a punch to the dragon's privates with a giggle just as time returned to normal.

Fin Fang Foom collapsed howling in pain from the mutant's attack before getting up and glaring furiously at him. "IGNORANT WHELP!" he screamed preparing to finish things once and for all before he was met with a laser blast to the face.

Turning around, Foom discovered Iron Man now with a large cannon attached to his arm made up of various metals including Peridot's limb enhancers. "How do you like them apples Ord?!" Tony shouted charging it up again before firing at will, this time sending it straight for the Makluan's mouth. "I hope you're hungry!"

"I've had enough of this! DIE!" Fin Fang Foom finally snapped preparing to kill them all before he suddenly froze, falling flat on his face and revealing a figure in a black coat behind him. "Uh, what just happened? Who are you?" Rocket asked as the dragon faded away and the figure descended to the ground, extending his hand in lieu of speaking.

* * *

In a facsimile of the planet Xandar, Captain America, Bismuth, Star-Lord and Black Panther were next to spawn. "Geez, seems like they get attacked every other month or something!" Peter quipped. "You think this is where Thanos got his first Infinity Stone?"

"We have no time, look alive!" Bismuth shouted shoving the leading Guardian out of the path of an attack from their old enemy Titus. "Star-Lord, it's about time we faced each other again."

"Oh hey big guy, how's being put on trial by Homeworld for kidnapping a high-ranking Gem doing?" Star-Lord exclaimed cheerfully, though in actuality it was just an insult. "For your information you rapscallion, your Ravager partner had made that all up to stain my reputation! If he were here instead of you, I'd be even happier to annihilate him." Titus shouted. "Now lay down and face my vengeance."

"Leave him alone cat man!" Bismuth shouted smacking the ex-Nova Corpsman in the face with her hammer hand. "You have no right to assault an officer of the law like that you Bismuth!" Titus yelled before he felt his head being smacked by Captain America's shield. "You're no law enforcement, you're just as much of a criminal as the ones you claim to hunt down!"

"You are a disgrace to the Nova Corps if you think your mangled view of justice is cool!" Bismuth shouted preparing to engage him. "I may go to great lengths to do what I think is right, but I'm crossing the line at punishing those who look at me funny!"

"I like her." Quill commented. "Me too, I admire her passion." Rogers added as the fight between the blacksmith and the ex-Supernova continued on. "Shouldn't we try assisting her?" T'Challa suggested. "She may be strong, but I believe her alone won't be enough."

"Way ahead of you Sylvester!" Star-Lord shouted flying over to Titus and tackling him from behind. "Get off me you rat!" Titus screamed trying to toss the Guardian off his back before he was met with Black Panther slashing his face and damaging his cybernetic eye. "Again?!"

"Now!" Bismuth shouted before the captain charged at Titus & backed up his laser cannon with his famous shield. Titus tried to fight back by firing from his mechanical limb, but the shield's Vibranium construct combined with the amount of built-up energy caused a massive explosion that destroyed the arm.

"Good work everyone. Now then, let's signal the others and find someone to converge." Cap stated before they heard Titus whimpering in fear. "No, please! I can't die like this!" he cried out beginning to collapse into dust. "Thanos promised that I would regain my status in exchange for serving him, but he never told me about this part of the deal!"

"Wait, deal?" Bismuth shouted just as Titus finally faded away for good. "It's possible that all the villains Thanos has recruited might've also asked for something in exchange for their services but if they failed him, they would be eliminated." the king of Wakanda deduced. "But now we must ask, where do we go from here?"

Unknown to Black Panther, his question would be answered in the form of a mysterious figure in a black coat watching them from atop a building.

* * *

Next up were the team consisting of Jasper, Hawkeye, Yondu, Lion & She-Hulk along with War Machine, Scarlet Witch, Vision, Ant-Man and Falcon on a landscape that proved to be familiar to the Ravager. "Skrullos?! Seems like we're facing the queen and her lackey now."

"Oh goody, those two again." Jennifer flatly added. "I can only assume you faced them before?" Jasper asked the jade giantess. "You bet. They held a big secret invasion of Earth where they replaced tons of people, including me!" Pym explained. "That was a very humiliating experience for myself."

Suddenly the aforementioned shapeshifters appeared before the eight of them, the Skrull queen Veranke and her minion Kl'rt, the Super-Skrull. "Now doesn't this seem unfair? Eight of them against just the two of us." the Skrull commented before his master shushed him. "No matter my most loyal servant. We shall find a way to take advantage of this."

Lion quietly snarled at the green aliens before stepping to Hank's side. "So what are your reasons for siding with Thanos?" the scientist wondered. "Simple. If we destroy you here, Thanos will reward us with changing the timeline so that our invasion was successful." the Super-Skrull answered preparing for a fight. "And we refuse to let you get in our way!"

"That's what you think." Jasper challenged him cracking her knuckles and charging toward Kl'rt. The Skrull stretched his arms and grabbed her mid-charge, tossing the Gem around a bit before smashing her on the ground. "Don't think I can go down that easily!"

With that, the rest of the party charged toward Veranke who retaliated by ordering tons of turrets & droids at her beck and call. "Terminate them my machines!" she cried before they all fired at will. The seven of them fought back with all their might against the Skrull queen's mechanical minions.

"Remember, Veranke herself is our current objective!" Hank commanded growing larger and stepping on a platoon of robots. "You got that right doc!" Jen replied crushing another between her thighs before she saw Jasper grab the Super-Skrull by the arm and toss him around like a toy. "And I like her style!"

"Never thought I'd hear a human praising me." Jasper mused taking notice of the heroine's compliments. "But no matter, after I take down these two Thanos will be mine!" She then landed the finishing blow, tossing Kl'rt into an array of turrets, putting him in their path and eliminating him.

"Nice throw there Jasper!" Rhodey called before firing at will at the machines. Meanwhile with Vision and Wanda, they were standing back to back while Sam soared overhead and Yondu rode on Lion's back sending his Yaka arrow flying towards more turrets. "All right Vis, what's our next move?" the witch asked her lover. "I suggest that I phase through them while you mind control them into attacking one another, giving me enough time to sneak attack them."

"Good plan there my dear." Vision agreed and he faded away, leaving his beloved to curse the machines into attacking one another. As the robots began fighting amongst themselves, a large laser beam appeared from out of nowhere and reduced them all to scrap metal, its owner revealing himself as Vision.

As for Falcon, he flew straight for Veranke guns blazing and letting out a war cry, but she simply dodged them all before being tackled by Jasper. "Do you yield your highness?!" the quartz snarled gripping her arms before she began fading away into dust. "What?!"

"My queen, no!" Kl'rt screamed for his master as he disintegrated as well. "Could this be what happens to Thanos's minions when they fail him?" Hank wondered. "Because this definitely has Infinity Stones written all over it."

"It most likely is." Jasper concurred. "But one has to ask what did the Skrulls ask for in return." Just then, a figure dressed in all black appeared before them, emitting a mysterious air around him.

* * *

Next up were Garnet, Amethyst, Bucky and Wasp. "So which one are we gonna face now? Annihilus, Blastaar, maybe even Galactus?!" the small Gem asked excitedly. "None of the above Amethyst." Bucky answered, much to her disappointment. "But speaking of Galactus..."

The old soldier pointed upward to a humanoid male figure on what looked like a surfboard hovering down to them, a male that Bucky and Janet recognized very well. "The Silver Surfer?!" Wasp cried in shock. "How did Thanos find a way to brainwash him?!"

"It is simple mortal! When Thanos discovered me, he brought me under his control as one of his most powerful lackeys with the Mind Stone! And I stand here today as the Dark Surfer, your personal executioner!"

"A herald of Galactus? Impossible." Garnet muttered in fear of what someone with the Power Cosmic could do. "We have to break Thanos's control over the Surfer, he could help us out against him!"

"Roger wilco G!" Amethyst shouted tying the Surfer down with her whips. The herald struggled to free himself before he was met with a stinger blast from Janet in his emerald eyes. "What is the meaning of this?! Let me go!" the Dark Surfer screamed before becoming trapped in a headlock by Garnet. She then discovered an odd orange bulb growing on the back of his head. "That must be what's controlling him!"

"What, that little thing? Doesn't seem too hard. Just pop it and we'll be done here." Amethyst remarked just as the Dark Surfer finally broke free and flew off. "Aw dang it!"

"We got to time it just right and shoot the damn thing!" Bucky stated loading his gun. "I only got one shot at this." He carefully aimed his rifle at the bulb on the Surfer's back, making sure he had a clear view of it before finally firing. The bullet sailed skyward toward the bulb and pierced straight into it, making the bulb burst and splatter all over the Surfer's head as he reverted to his more recognizable silver coloring and crashed into the ground. "Target eliminated!"

"Must...reach...Strange..." the Silver Surfer muttered slowly regaining control of his mind. "What is he talking about?" Amethyst wondered. "He must be talking about the doctor, probably wanting to find him and talk about Thanos." Garnet deduced. "Please Surfer, tell us your business!"

"I wanted...to warn him." Norrin Rad groaned in pain. "Great danger, coming this way. Must be stopped!" The Surfer then began screaming in terror. "His arrival could herald the end of the universe! THANOS IS COMING!"

"Uh newsflash Bender, we already kinda got the message." Amethyst snarked before the herald grabbed her shoulders. "They're all dying! Billions upon billions of souls are blinking out of existence! Horrible, not a one knew what struck them!" the Surfer continued his rant before Garnet finally silenced him. "We know! Thanos has brought us all here to fight his minions and stop him! Tell us, how did he brainwash you?"

"Apologies for panicking my friends." the Silver Surfer apologized sitting down on his board. "The last thing I remember before Thanos found me was flying down to Earth to warn Doctor Strange about the Mad Titan's reign of terror before the Black Order captured me and used one of the Infinity Stones to make me his puppet. Since I was the only soul among his Masters of Evil that didn't make a deal with him, that must mean I won't be disintegrated like the others."

"That's good to know buddy, but how do we get out of here?" Janet wondered sitting down next to Silver. "I think I may know someone. Look."

The Surfer pointed toward a figure in black standing before them and smiled at him.

* * *

The final group to spawn were Steven, Thor, Doctor Strange and Drax in a locale that looked insanely familiar to the young Gem. "Is this Homeworld?" he wondered looking around at the architecture, including the large white statue in the distance. "By Odin's beard, did Thanos strike here as well?" Thor gasped in astonishment. "Indeed he did brother."

Loki suddenly appeared with a dastardly smirk on his face ready to face the four of them. "Loki, you're with Thanos too?!" Steven cried summoning his shield. "Of course I am child. But I'm not the only one." the God of Mischief replied gesturing upward to a large pillar of light that collapsed to reveal none other than Yellow and Blue Diamond.

"The Diamonds!" Steven cried in alarm. "My God." Strange added in amazement. "As I live and breathe. I've only heard stories about how my father participated in the Rebellion, but I never thought I'd be facing two of the Diamonds today." Thor stated beginning to reminisce on tales of days long past. "I still remember the story of how he lost his eye that day."

* * *

In the heat of the great war between the Crystal Gems & their newfound allies against both the Gem Homeworld and Thanos, the Allfather Odin stood back to back with Rose Quartz against an army of Topazes.

"Seems like we've bitten off more than we can chew." the leader of the Crystal Gems commented. "Do not fret my comrade! You've shown great vigor in recruiting us to your cause along with Wakanda, Atlantis, the Vishanti, the Inhumans, En Sabah Nur & K'un-L'un and we shall show that same vigor here today!" Odin declared spotting the first foe within his sight. "I suppose that white light must be their leader."

"White light?" Rose stuttered turning back to Odin in fear. "Odin, you have no idea what you're getting into! That's-" she tried to warn him but her words fell on deaf ears. "A chance for me to show these Homeworlders what I've got!" the Allfather boomed running away from his pink comrade. "For the Nine Realms!"

Roaring like an animal as he plowed through Homeworld Gems and Thanos's forces, Odin saw the white light get closer to him. "Come and fight me you filthy Diamond!" he screamed jumping high into the air with Gungnir at the ready, tossing it straight at the light.

Only for it to come flying back towards him and striking him in his right eye. The Asgardian king screamed in pain as he fell to the ground with his beloved queen Frigga being the first to rush to his side.

* * *

"I remember that man quite well." Yellow Diamond commented. "He was quite loud and foolhardy back in the day, but I assumed he wised up a bit after he lost his eye to White. But back on the subject at hand, now all of you will have to meet the same fate, especially Rose."

"For the last time, I'm not Rose!" Steven cried trying to correct the monarch before Doctor Strange shushed him. "Stand down Steven, you are quite strong on your own, but are nothing compared to two Diamonds." he stated. "Well what if they're nothing compared to me?!" Drax hollered running toward the two Gems with his daggers prepared and laughing like a madman. "Come and face me giant women!"

"No." Blue Diamond simply said striking him down with just a finger before glaring at the remaining three. "And as for all of you." she snarled just as the Sorcerer Supreme stepped forth. "I've faced quite a lot of galactic menaces, but I never knew I'd face two Diamonds." he declared summoning forth a pair of glowing red bands and flying forward. "By the Crimson Chains of Cyttorak!"

Strange tossed his arm out and entangled Yellow with the chains, but she freed herself by touching them with an electric shock, leaving the doctor open for Blue to attack next. Strange created a portal that brought him a short distance away to break his fall and prepared another spell. "By the Bolts of Balthakk!"

"Get him my Diamond!" Yellow Pearl cried from the stands with Blue Pearl sitting next to her. "What she said."

As the fight between Strange and the Diamonds raged on, Thor and Loki began locking horns once more. "What do you seek to gain from siding with Thanos again brother?!" the thunder god asked striking his adoptive brother in the face with Mjolnir. "Surely you realize that failing him with only result in horrific punishment!"

"He would've spared my life if I didn't fail him here like last time." Loki explained. "And even because of that, I still won't go easy on you regardless!" He jabbed at his adoptive brother with his spear and knocked him out cold with his magic.

Meanwhile, Steven was trying to sneak across the battlefield away from the Diamonds before he suddenly came across Drax lying down on the ground after being attacked by Blue Diamond. "Are you okay Drax?" the boy asked the destroyer as he got up. "I am very okay, for I am alive!" Drax declared proudly. "Ha-ha-ha-ha, screw you giant women!"

"I wouldn't say that if I were you Drax." Steven winced as the destroyer's insult caught Yellow's attention and she charged toward the two, preparing to assault the boy before she was stopped by Thor. "What?!" she shouted clashing with the Asgardian. "Stop this Odinson, the brat is mine!"

"What are you doing Thor?! You just abandoned me so you can save a simple child!" Loki whined. "Please everyone, stop fighting and listen to me!" Steven urged everyone. "Thanos is using the three of you as his puppets, and if you fail him, who knows what he could do!"

"Don't try and brainwash me Rose!" Yellow screamed shoving Thor out of the way and nearly stomping on Steven once and for all before she was halted by Loki of all people. "This boy is right. The Mad Titan has played us all for fools and I suppose we all know what happens when we lose."

"Loki is right, Thanos would destroy us." Blue Diamond agreed with the trickster god. "Although we naturally oppose one another, he's a greater threat to everyone." she stated and Yellow just facepalmed in exasperation. "I can't believe I'm going to do this." she muttered before turning to Steven. "Okay little one, how about this? We join forces to defeat Thanos once and for all. But this is only temporary, since you are a Crystal Gem."

"Very well then. But we need a place to stay and make plans." Strange stated before they all spotted a black cloaked male appearing out of nowhere and gesturing toward a futuristic metropolis. "Well, speak of the devil."

Meanwhile Thanos was watching everything play out from his moon shrine and looking very furious. "First the Surfer and now them?!" he roared raising his Gauntlet to the air. "They all will pay!"

"Wait master!" Mephisto cried breaking his blind rage. "I have a solution to this. Why don't I settle things myself?" he offered with a smug grin which Thanos returned. "Very well then Mephisto. You may depart, and make sure not to fail me like all the others."

"Duly noted oh great and powerful Mad Titan." the Prince of Devils replied kneeling before the dark lord. "My humble personage bows before your grandeur." The demon then disappeared from the palace, leaving Thanos smirking and Lady Death still stood motionless by his side.

* * *

Journeying their way to the metropolis, Steven attempted to make small talk with the cloaked figure. "Uh, excuse me sir but I have a few questions." he said. "Who are you, what do you want with us, where are we going?"

The figure gave no answer and continued floating forward. "And why does nobody answer when I ask important questions?" Steven mumbled before they heard a rumbling sound followed by a mad cackle. "That laugh." Loki gasped just as Mephisto appeared before the group. "So what do we have here?! The boy, his little defenders and a couple of traitors too!"

"Mephisto! You're gonna pay for scaring the Gems back on Titan!" Steven shouted preparing his shield. "Oh I'm not interested in you for the moment boy. I only want the Diamonds." Mephisto stated turning to the two monarchs. "Look at you! You're supposed to be among the most powerful beings in the cosmos and yet here you are subservient to someone you could crush underfoot!"

"Insult us all you want demon, but perhaps we could do the same to you." Yellow said preparing to strike Mephisto down before Thanos suddenly appeared. "That is what you think Yellow." the Titan declared appearing out of a portal behind the demon. "I'd like to have a word with you Mephisto."

"Why master, couldn't you arrive until after I terminated them?" Mephisto asked before he was grabbed by the neck and pulled up to Thanos's gaze. "I know you have something planned for me demon. Tell me what it is and I promise your humiliation will be less painful!" he threatened. "I refuse Thanos! Was this your own plan for me, to obliterate me when you realized my endgame?!" the devil cried fearfully.

Thanos only answered by punching him skyward with the Gauntlet and forcing him down with the Reality Stone, making sure to smash him deep into the ground. "Do you yield Mephisto. Or do you fall?"

Mephisto gave out a frightened yelp before he vanished into thin air, leaving Thanos disappointed and everyone else aghast. "Keep in mind that this is only a preview of what I can do with the Infinity Gauntlet. If I decided to, I could wipe out all of you and everyone else on this planet with just the snap of a finger. But that's for later. As for now, I'm watching you."

Thanos turned his back and began to walk away before stopping for a moment to gaze at the cloaked man. "And I'm also watching you in particular." he stated getting back to walking and then he slowly vanished. "What did he mean by that?" Steven asked glancing at their mysterious rescuer before they continued onward to the metropolis.

* * *

"There, this should last us for a while!" Connie declared rubbing some pieces of wood together given to her by Groot to make a fire. "Thanks for giving me the wood Groot."

"I am Groot." Groot replied before Rocket spoke up. "So, the gang's pretty much all here!" he stated reclining on Bismuth's shoulder. "We're all a bunch of jackasses around a campfire brought back together by some jackass we don't know about who thinks he's all mysterious by dressing in clothes that completely hide him and not speak at all!"

"Hey, speaking of the gang being all here, there's still someone missing." Amethyst remarked. "What about Steven?" she asked. "That's right. We're still missing Steven, Point Break, Dumbledore and Tattoos." Iron Man answered. Just then they heard a familiar voice. "Hey guys!"

"Oh speak of the devil and he shall appear." Hawkeye snarked as Steven finally reunited with the other heroes. "Steven!" the Crystal Gems cried rushing to hug the child. "We were all so worried for you Steven!" Pearl exclaimed. "Who were you up against, how'd you do, what happened after that?" Amethyst asked. "We're just happy you're all right if you can't tell." Garnet calmly remarked. "And it's good to see the rest of you as well."

"Thank you Garnet. I can assure all of you fought well today." Thor proclaimed. "Actually my friends, it's not just us four that came here." Doctor Strange nervously stated turning around and gesturing something forward, that something being Loki, the Diamonds and their Pearls. "Surprise!" Loki exclaimed with a mischievous grin on his face while Yellow just face-palmed.

Everybody present was completely at a loss for words at the sight of three of their enemies before them, especially Captain America, Rocket Raccoon, Hulk, Bismuth, Pearl and Lapis.

"I'm sorry, am I dreaming or are the Diamonds standing right in front of us and not wanting us dead?!" the blacksmith exclaimed trying to comprehend what's going on. "Aw geez, for the record miss, we didn't capture her because there was this big guy trying to kill us." Rocket groaned. "And I suppose you also heard about how he "kidnapped" one of your own."

"T-the Diamonds?! Steven, are you crazy?!" Lapis began to panic and tried to fly away before she felt her ankle entangled in a string of web. "Lapis, wait!" Spider-Man cried out trying to pull her down. "Man, you're tough! Can someone give me a hand?"

"I got this long-legs." Rocket stated firing an electric net launcher that managed to bring Lapis back to the ground. "Look Tidal, I know you're kinda afraid of Homeworld and you don't wanna do anything with them, but I don't think you would abandon everyone else all willy-nilly!"

"I know Rocket, but you've met them before. Why aren't you as afraid?" Lapis asked beginning to calm down. "Because trust me blue, I've met far worse people than those two." the mercenary stated before Spidey decided to speak. "And I know what it's like to run away. You remember how I mentioned how many times I was like Spider-Man no more, right?"

"Yeah. Can you give me one reason you quit one time?" Lapis asked. "It was because I lost someone close to me one faithful night. This someone was the only girl I ever loved and this villain just took her away from me." Peter answered. "She got much better and became a crimefighter in her own right, but that night still haunts me even today."

"Who was this girl?" Lapis asked again, but Peter started to get a bit teary-eyed under his mask and dodged the question. "That's not important! But what's important is that you don't always have to run away thinking that can instantly solve your problems. You gotta face them head on." he said bringing the Gem in for a hug, who returned it with a smile. "Thanks Pete."

"Okay, it was fun being sentimental and all that, but let's just discuss the REALLY big elephant in the room." Star-Lord exclaimed. "Just who, the hell, are you?!" he exclaimed to the cloaked figure, who simply sighed and actually said a full sentence. "Well, you got me."

The man finally ditched the cloak to reveal his red hair & red and white bodysuit under a brown leather jacket. Out of everyone, this man caught the eyes of the Avengers and Steven. "Don't you just hate it when you have to not talk to keep being mysterious?" the man snarked. "Bet you all didn't see me coming."

"Eros?" Cap gasped in astonishment. "I'm sorry, who?" Amethyst said. "I remember him. Thanos made him appear in my dream." Steven said. "Are you Thanos's brother?"

"Of course I am sport. What's your name?" Eros asked Steven. "My name is Steven Universe, and these are all my friends the Crystal Gems." the boy introduced himself and the Gems. "Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl, Connie, Peridot, Lapis Lazuli and Bismuth. And there's also Jasper and Yellow & Blue Diamond."

"You got a whole harem of Gems? Oh baby, why couldn't I have your life?!" Eros exclaimed before trying to make his move on Garnet. "Hey there sweetheart, name's Eros, but the ladies call me Starfox!" he purred sensually. "You know among all the types of babes I usually fall for, the strong silent types are usually among my faves."

"Say another word or I'll make sure you're physically incapable of talking." Garnet calmly threatened Starfox, who nervously backed away in response. "Okay, I'll cut it out! Sheesh, can't please everyone."

"Tell us Eros, why have you assembled us all here? Not just us, but some of our enemies as well!" Thor asked the Eternal. "Funny story Goldilocks. In fact, the Gems here are the very reason I assembled y'all here today." Starfox explained before apologizing to Steven. "And I sincerely apologize for calling them your harem kid, I didn't realize it was kind of a touchy subject and I won't bring it up again. Capiche?"

"So he and Thanos are brothers?" Lapis wondered. "I seriously don't get why there are so many siblings that look nothing like one another." she deadpanned much to Loki's chagrin. "I told you back on Asgard, I'm adopted!"

"Okay so gather round ladies and germs, it'll be like telling stories around the fire!" Starfox coaxed them all into sitting with him around Connie's impromptu campfire. "So you all know Thanos, right? Big scary guy that wants to wipe out half of the universe because some lady told him everything was getting too big which somehow turned him on? Well what if I told you-"

"That it was because he was ostracized by his people for looking different?" Steven interrupted the Eternal's explanation. "Correctamundo squirt!" Eros applauded him before getting back to his story. "Anyway, when our peaceful little planet of Titan was doomed due to some ecological crisis, Thanos had the bright idea of killing off half of its population to save the rest. And to them, it was a big no-no and they kicked him out!"

"So being shunned by his people, then exiled because his way of solving a problem was too drastic?" Connie wondered. "You know now that you tell us, I can actually understand where he's coming from."

"Nice assumption there sweetheart. Moving on, Thanos thought he was finally lost until he heard of Lady Death, who also thought that the universe was getting too big and a match made in Hell was born." Starfox continued telling his story. "She gave him his own army to carry out her wishes and the first thing he did? Kill off half the people of Titan before that crisis could call dibs."

The Eternal continued on before Steven tapped Gamora on the back. "Uh Gamora, there's something Pearl and I want to tell you." he said to the Zenwhoberi. "Yondu, Cap and Bucky need to hear this as well."

"Why, is something the matter kid?" Bucky asked while the two Gems led them somewhere hidden from the rest of the party. "Something is the matter, and I couldn't stand not telling you." Steven continued before letting out a solemn sigh. "It's about Rose."

"Why, what about Rose?" Rogers wondered before the boy motioned for Pearl to speak. "Rose Quartz was actually Pink Diamond." she revealed to the four of them, to their absolute shock and confusion. "What the?!" Yondu gasped turning his head back & forth between the two rebels and the Diamonds. "You mean to tell me I was helping one of them all those years back?"

"Exactly. Which begs the question, how did you get involved with Rose? You should be like really old right about now." Steven wondered. "As a matter of fact kid, I often forget when I first met her and Pearl." Yondu explained scratching his chin. "Maybe it was thousands of years ago or maybe on my way to fetch Quill for his pappy, I don't know."

"As for me, I have a much clearer answer: time travel." Gamora stated. "Among the various training regiments he put his children through were sending us to the distant past to assist his younger self. And yet somehow this didn't alter the timeline. It's just as nonsensical as it sounds."

"So a tyrant was helping us fight tyrants. Talk about cruel irony." Bucky muttered before turning to his best friend. "What are your thoughts Steve? You seem awfully quiet."

The captain let out a sigh and finally began to speak. "Listen, I want to be mad, I want to feel betrayed but I just can't because I've been through this before." Steve stated before looking at Bucky and then at Tony in the distance. "Sometimes when you've hidden a secret for so long, it can have disastrous consequences when it gets out. Does anyone else know yet?"

"No, just me and Pearl for now. Maybe we should break it to the other Gems when all is said and done." Steven answered before he felt his idol's hands touch his shoulders. "Trust me Steven, no matter how they feel about it, I'm sure things will turn out fine nonetheless." he confirmed with a warm smile. "Now come on, let's go rejoin the others."

The six rejoined everyone else around the fire as Starfox's story ended. "Hey guys, where were you? Y'all missed the best part!" he exclaimed. "I was on my feet against Thanos, like a man-"

"I think we've heard enough you." Yellow Diamond interrupted him. "Now then, how about we rest up and think of a plan?" she suggested. "That's good big lady, but let's leave the plan making to me." Stark cockily stated much to her frustration. "I'm a natural leader and strategist here! Leave this to a professional!"

"Big talk coming from someone with such a long neck!" Tony insulted the monarch. "Speaking of which, how's the weather up there?!" he continued jeering. "If we weren't on the same side, I'd kill you on the spot." Yellow growled and the two continued arguing. It was about to reach a boiling point before Star-Lord interrupted them both. "Guys guys, calm down! Why don't we let me do the planning? After all, there'd be less risk of being murdered by giant women or your dignity tainted by someone with an ego huger than his mansion?"

There was dead silence between the Homeworld monarch and the armored human before Tony simply said "Wow."

* * *

The next morning, the champions had awakened and assembled before Captain America. "Okay everyone, today we finish this." the captain declared. "We've been under Thanos's thumb for far too long and it's about time we make him pay. Now we may be naturally opposed to one another, but today we stand together as one against a common threat. As Gems, as gods, as heroes, as humans, as-"

"As my prey." Thanos boomed appearing seemingly out of nowhere to everyone's alarm. "Were you spying on us the whole time?!" Garnet exclaimed as they all geared up for battle. "You could say that my dear Garnet." the Mad Titan answered. "I could just wipe all of you out with just my fingers, but I'd rather extinguish you all one at a time. Starting with you brother."

"Long time no see Big T, when's the last time we ever clashed?" Starfox asked, his voice now more serious yet still keeping a laid-back tone. "Been about like 500 years ago? Lost count after another hundred." The Eternal cracked his knuckles and prepared for a rematch years in the making and zooming forward with cosmic energy surrounding his hands before Thanos punched him in the face, sending him flying across the city.

However, Eros got up with only a few bruises and stated "Is that the best you got?" He let out a mighty yell charging at his brother again and unleashed a mighty uppercut that sent him sky high. "Get out while you still can guys!"

"But what about you?" Peridot exclaimed preparing to flee. "I'll be alright, I can take Thanos!" Starfox said. As for Thanos himself, he was descending back towards the ground when he noticed his trusted stasis gun falling with him. Seeing this as an opportunity to please Death, he grabbed it and aimed at the fleeing champions. "I've got you in my sights!"

Thanos pulled the trigger and fired a bolt at Connie, who didn't notice it until she heard someone scream in pain. That someone was Hawkeye, putting himself in harm's way all for the life of a fellow skilled human in a world of superpowered beings.

"Clint!" the other five main Avengers cried out for their teammate rushing to their side. "Are you okay Clint?! Please speak to us!" Natasha shouted shaking her partner's unconscious form. "I'm okay guys, just a serious concussion." the archer groaned. "And I'm feeling a bit numb in my shooting arm."

Just then, Eros was tossed back to the ragtag band of saviors by Thanos who was looking rather furious. "You've gotten soft brother! I demand a real challenge!" the titan boomed. "I'd like to take that offer." Jasper declared stepping forward. "Are you nuts Jasper?! You know how strong Thanos is!" Amethyst cried to her fellow quartz. "I know runt, but if I die here then I'm going to die settling things with Thanos once and for all."

"Very well then Jasper. I've been waiting for that rematch for the past thousands of years." Thanos stated removing his armor and getting into a fighting stance. "Go ahead, give me all you got."

"With pleasure titan. But first," Jasper said before she turned to Steven and the others. "all of you outta here, now!" she commanded. "Why Jasper?!" Steven exclaimed before he was cut off by a loud "GOOO!"

"Well, you heard the big lady." Tony commanded leading everyone else away from the city. "Is there a place where we can recover?" he asked. "Let's go back to Earth! Well, the fake Earth really, but you know what I mean." Steven suggested as he and Connie hopped on Lion's back. The boy only looked back at Jasper as her final showdown with the Mad Titan began and he only said "Not right now Steven, not right now."

The two brutes screamed at one another as their fists locked together. They struggled to push each other down until Jasper gave in, collapsing to the ground before Thanos leapt high into the air. "Is that all you got?!" the soldier roared spindashing straight toward him. "Because I've got more for you!"

"Come on!" Thanos boomed opening himself up and catching Jasper in his arms, holding her in a bear hug. "Don't underestimate me monster!" she howled giving her arch-rival a mighty headbutt, freeing her from his grasp and the two fell back down to the ground. "I have to say Jasper, you haven't gotten rusty one bit."

"Ditto Thanos. But when I'm done, your precious Gauntlet will be nothing but rust!" Jasper cried charging towards the dark lord again, but she was knocked down with a single punch that sent her flying into a nearby building, making it topple to the ground.

When she finally came to amongst the rubble, Jasper pulled her hair from her eyes to find a familiar face that she thought was long gone. "M-my Diamond?" she stuttered at the very sight at her late superior Pink Diamond standing before her. "I can't believe it, you're here! You were never shattered! I am just so happy to see you again!" Jasper began crying before taking a knee. "Tell me, what are your orders?"

Pink Diamond opened her mouth and began to speak, but she was interrupted by Thanos's large hand striking her in the torso where her gem was and smashed it in his hands, killing her. "I know what it is like to lose my dearest Jasper." the titan said cupping her chin and budging her head to meet his gaze. "To feel so desperately that you're right yet to fail all the same."

"You-you monster! You couldn't!" Jasper screamed before she spotted some teal spikes growing on her arm. "No, no! I can't go through this again!" she cried. "The mind is a fickle thing, isn't it? One moment you're seeing things, and the next you feel like you're going mad." Thanos continued revealing the glowing Mind & Reality Stones in his gauntlet. "And reality can often be mundane as well. But not anymore with these stones, one of which I used to heal your corruption. Sadly, it seems to be wearing off."

"Sadly?! SADLY?! The only thing that's sad is that you used my greatest failure against me!" Jasper howled as her corruption worsened. "And yet here you are kicking back as millions die under your thumb! I may be a brute, but I know where to cross the line!"

"But the universe and its resources are finite my friend. If those are left unchecked, life will simply cease to exist. At least, that is what Death made me believe when we first met." Thanos continued without a care for his opponent's condition. "I must ask you my friend, any final wishes?"

"Please...tell me what really happened to her." Jasper gasped finally giving up hope. With a smug grin on his purple face, Thanos gave no answer. "Y-you, you insane bastard!" were the quartz's final words before she fully became corrupted once more, a quadrupedal beast with spikes adorning her form, a lack of eyes and sharp teeth.

"I am truly sorry." Thanos muttered with a hint of actual regret in his tone before he grabbed Jasper's gem and ripped it from her face, poofing her. "You were a mighty opponent Jasper, but alas. There must always be a clear winner." he commended his inactive foe before dropping the gem on the ground and stepping on it, shattering her once and for all. Without a word, he turned the other way and stepped through a portal back to his shrine to Death.

However in the distance, the Silver Surfer remained behind to spectate on the fight and with a solemn bow of his head, he returned to the others.

* * *

Upon finally arriving at the facsimile of Beach City, the group took a moment to catch their breath. "That was just intense! Felt like we were gonna die there!" Amethyst exclaimed falling flat on her back. "Indeed, half of the time I felt like we were going to be crushed by debris." Pearl added sitting down on the deck. "Hey wait a minute, aren't we missing someone?"

"Yeah, where the hell did Silver Bells go?" Wolverine asked when just then, Norrin returned to them. "Where were you big boy?" Starfox asked him. "And what happened to the big lady?"

The ex-herald of Galactus was silent for a moment before finally giving an answer. "She's dead." This proved to be a great shock to our champions as they took a moment of silence to honor Jasper's sacrifice against Thanos.

"What now?" Thor asked breaking the silence. "Well normally I would have something made to kick his ass, but we got nothing right now." Tony replied before Groot spoke up. "I am Groot!" he exclaimed pointing at Pearl's gem. "Oh that's right, you gave me the Red King's warsuit in case we needed it." she stated. "So we're going to need your help Stark."

"Good idea big guy, but we need to buy some time in case Thanos tries to show his ugly mug at us." Tony remarked. "Seems like we're gonna need all the help we can get here. Rocket, Thor, Peridot, Lapis and Bismuth, you're gonna help us make a godkiller. The rest of you go take him on until we're ready."

"But who's gonna lead us against him?" Connie asked before looking at her best friend. "Me? But I'm not ready yet!" Steven exclaimed before Garnet calmed him down. "Then consider this your first leadership training exercise." she benignly declared. "Garnet's right Steven, you were born to lead the Gems just like your mother before you." Captain America stated. "Don't feel so scared right now, we'll all be with you every step of the way."

"As Gems." Yellow Diamond added. "As gods." Thor followed up. "As humans." Connie said holding her friend's hand. "As heroes." Spider-Man declared. "As champions." Pearl said. With those words of encouragement, Steven turned to face the horizon before them with his shield raised up high. "Thank you everyone." he thanked them all before letting out a battle cry of "Ultimate Alliance, assemble!"

This was a day unlike any other where the forces of good and evil were forced to band together under a common threat. Although their conflicting alignments prove to be a problem, they knew they had to set their differences aside for the final battle. On that day, the Ultimate Alliance was born.

* * *

 _And that was it for The Masters of Evil! Sorry to keep you waiting everyone, but hopefully this was all worth it! Join us next time for the final battle with Thanos in Forever Fight as One. But for now, I think I'm going to take a load off and maybe get back on a smaller story. That's right, we are really truly going back to the clash between One Punch Man's Saitama and Villainous's Black Hat in Black Fist! Until then, catch ya later._

 **Dedicated to Steve Ditko  
**

 **November 2, 1927-June 29, 2018**

 **Without your strange mind, we wouldn't have gotten such spectacular characters.**


	5. Forever Fight as One

_AN: At last the final battle against Thanos has come! It certainly has been a pleasure writing this for all of you to enjoy, and it also warms my heart to see so much love for it. Still waiting for it to be on TV Tropes though. But regardless, I hope you enjoy this and any more stories, Earth-2013 or not, to come! Until then, toodle-oo!_

* * *

 **Steven Universe: Secret Wars**

 **Part 2: Battleworld**

 **Chapter 5: Forever Fight as One**

"Did you see how I annihilated Jasper there my love?" Thanos asked Death finally returning to his shrine on Battleworld's moon. "She put up quite a fight, but in the end she had to be put down. It's a shame as well, her gemstone would've looked marvelous on you. In fact, why don't I grant you the shattered remains of the other Gems as a present?"

Lady Death gave no answer other than just a roll of her eyes, but the titan took it as a sign. "It may not be spoken, but I still count it as attention." he stated before he heard the rattling of chains and turned to discover Nebula, now free from her restraints and looking absolutely furious. "YOU!"

"Nebula, I see you have managed to escape. Exquisite work, but not as much as when I would pit you against your sister." Thanos commended his daughter but he was met with a hateful laugh from his daughter. "You fool! Do you truly think Death will ever love you?! Besides, she's not the only one you should be concerned with right now!"

"Let me guess, are you referring to the Crystal Gems?" Thanos wondered preparing to pummel her with the Gauntlet. "Not just those Gems," Nebula answered before looking upward. "them."

Thanos had no idea what she was talking about before he turned around to discover a gigantic humanoid man dressed in purple & blue armor with a distinctive horned helmet. This titan was none other than the dreaded devourer of worlds himself, Galactus.

"Thanos of Titan, we have come to punish you for your crimes against the universe!" Galactus boomed as several more beings of equal power stood alongside him. There was Kronos the god of time, the embodiment of the very universe itself known as Eternity, the physical forms of life, death, love & hate, the mysterious Uatu the Watcher, a pair of Celestials and the Living Tribunal.

"Your abuse of the Infinity Gauntlet's power has gone too far Thanos." Uatu scolded the titan. "If this keeps going on, then the whole universe will become beyond saving! And all for to satisfy both your twisted delusions of balance and your love for Death."

"Do you realize who I am? I have made the Diamonds my slaves, made a fool out of Mephisto, reduced one of Gemkind's strongest warriors to gravel and I also have a secret weapon hidden inside my moon!" Thanos bragged preparing to send them all off with a snap of his fingers. "Yet it seems your efforts were all for nothing." the Stranger declared bringing attention to a certain alliance of champions. "Look."

The Stranger then produced a holographic image of the Crystal Gems, the Avengers, the Guardians of the Galaxy, Starfox, Silver Surfer, Loki and the Diamonds all marching toward Thanos's statue, ready for a final fight.

"I never thought I would see the day the Crystal Gems would ally themselves with their former superiors, and I'm the god of time." Kronos commented. "It cannot be! This shall not stand!" Thanos boomed furiously, on the verge of snapping even. "I shall have to do it myself, and I refuse to let you interfere." With one finger click, the cosmic hierarchy found themselves fading into dust.

"How is this even possible?!" Uatu exclaimed before he finally disappeared. "You can make us fade into dust all you want titan, but mark my words you shall receive justice!" Galactus shouted as he, along with the rest of the deities, finally disappeared.

Nebula gaped in horror at the sight of such powerful beings falling to the power of her father before her shock turned to frothing rage and she charged at the titan with her arms as the only available weapon she had. Suddenly, the Luphomoid found herself grabbed by the neck and met with the furious glare of Thanos. He gave no word before carelessly tossing her as far as he can off the moon.

"These fools dare take up arms against their savior, rushing head-on into their destiny." Thanos began monologuing to himself. "So I shall provide them with death only deserving of a true warrior. There will be nothing but dust and blood but in the end, balance shall stand triumphant."

With a single gesture, Thanos's throne zoomed out of the temple and he sat down, with Death still by his side. Clenching his fist, the Space Stone created a portal that led Thanos down to Battleworld, where he hoped to settle things once and for all.

* * *

On the patchwork planet itself, the Ultimate Alliance charged across Battleworld toward the statue of their despised shared enemy. Led by Steven Universe, Captain America, Yellow Diamond, Star-Lord, Gamora and Starfox, this uneasy team-up sought to end the Mad Titan's reign of terror and keep the universe from falling apart under his gold-plated fist.

"Come out wherever you are big guy! You ready for a rematch?!" Amethyst challenged readying her whip. "Hold on there Amethyst, we still gotta hold the line til Tony and the others get there!" Cap explained before contacting his iron teammate through an earpiece. "Stark, how are you, Pearl, Bismuth, Lapis, Peridot, Thor, Rocket and Groot holding up?"

"Doing okay Rogers. Still having a few difficulties though." Iron Man replied on the other end in the beach house before an explosion sounded. "I am Groot!" Groot exclaimed trying to put on the fire on his body. "Don't worry, I got you!" Lapis exclaimed putting out the flames.

"So what are they building again?" Hawkeye wondered. "A god killer, Tony said." Steve replied ending the call. "Hopefully they get here soon. Thanos doesn't like it when a challenge is kept waiting."

"Why are you so insistent that we shall win against Thanos? He's an all-powerful being with the Infinity Gauntlet for your information!" Yellow Diamond wondered showing concern for the outcome. "I've heard that you've defeated him time and again, but how?"

With a small smile, Cap sat down at the foot of the statue. "That kind of reminds me of a story from my day. I was only a boy in a library where I learned what it truly meant to be a patriot." he stated. "I was reading a classic by Mark Twain when I discovered a sentence that struck a chord in me. It was so powerful that I memorized it for years to come."

"What was that sentence?" Garnet wondered. "That sentence was, 'In a republic, who is the country?'." Cap answered. "'Is it the government which is for the moment in the saddle? Why, the government is merely a temporary servant; it cannot be its prerogative to determine what is right and what is wrong, and decide who is a patriot and who isn't. Its functions is to obey orders, not originate them.'"

"What is he even saying? Who is this Mark Twain?" Blue Diamond wondered quietly. "'Who then, is the country? Is it the newspaper, is it the pulpit? Why, these are mere parts of the country, not the whole of it."

"How is going on about some Midgardian scribe going to help us here?" Loki asked as the captain continued on. "'They have not command. They only have their little share of their command.'" Steve continued his story while standing up. "'In a monarchy, the king and his family are the country. In a republic, it is the common voice of the people. Each of you, for himself, by himself, and on his own responsibility must speak."

Steven looked on eagerly as his hero proceeded. "'It is a solemn and weighty responsibility, and not lightly to be flung aside at the bullying of pulpit, press, government or the empty catchphrases of politicians.'" Rogers kept speaking. "'Each must for himself alone decide what is right and what is wrong & which course is patriotic and which isn't. You cannot shirk this and be a man."

"Yeesh, Thanos sure is taking pretty long." Star-Lord remarked. "Yes, but what he's saying is true." Gamora responded. "'To decide it against your convictions is to an unqualified and inexcusable traitor, to both yourself and to your country." Steve stated almost at the end of his speech. "'Let men label you if they may."

"He got all of this from Twain? Wow." Connie gasped in amazement sitting down next to her best friend. "'If you alone of all the nation shall decide one way, and that way be the right way according to your convictions of the right, you have done your duty by yourself and by your country. Hold up your head. You have nothing to be ashamed of.'"

"So what are you trying to say Rogers?" Amethyst wondered. "What I'm trying to say is that it doesn't matter what anyone says, whether it be the politicians, the press, the mob or the whole world, when they say something wrong is something right." the captain declared. "Our fair country was founded on one principle, to have the right to stand up for what we believe in, no matter the cost. And when everyone tells you to move, it is your duty to plant yourself like a tree and tell them, 'No. You move.'"

"And when that tree is planted, there will be someone to cut it down." the booming voice of Thanos suddenly sounded as he appeared from a portal on his throne with Death by his side. "By the way, you should be expecting company." he smugly added just as Nebula landed at the champions' feet, mangled and terrified.

"Run everybody! Thanos is refusing to just sit around anymore!" she cried out. "He will purge you all no matter what!"

"Enough is enough." the Mad Titan declared summoning his alien armies to his side. "Now we play this game my way." Thanos got up from his throne and descended to the ground preparing for the final battle. "Kill them all."

The Chitauri, Sakaarans and Deviants readied their weapons and charged, beginning to clash with the Alliance.

Although the champions had the strength of two super-soldiers, multiple powerful Gems, a gamma giant and many more to give them an advantage, the sheer number of the extraterrestrials proved to be just as strong.

"Dammit, Stark and the midget should've been done ages ago!" Wolverine cried cutting down multiple Sakaarans with his claws while Vision disintegrated even more of them with a blast from the gem on his head. Quicksilver & Scarlet Witch combined their mutant powers to plow through an entire squadron of Chitauri and the rest tried to fight them off, but for the most part it seemed hopeless.

"Someone, help me!" Falcon shouted before one of his wings was caught in a Chitauri glider. Just as quickly, he was freed when Drax tackled the Chitauri and stabbed it in the face, causing the glider to crash.

"Dang, they're everywhere!" Ms. Marvel said standing back to back with She-Hulk, War Machine and Ant-Man. "Just hold the line until help arrives!" Hank exclaimed growing giant size and stomping on a few Deviants.

Meanwhile, Steven, Garnet, Doctor Strange, Captain America and Yellow Diamond managed to find shelter from the attack. "I can't tell if you're insane or love risking it, but that speech from earlier was fairly powerful." the monarch commented. "But how are we going to succeed when there's so many of them?"

"I've actually narrowed down multiple outcomes of this war and most of them end with us dying." Garnet explained adjusting her visor. "Only one has everyone alive and victorious."

"Only one? How many other possibilities were there?" Steven wondered. "I calculate approximately fourteen million." the fusion stated. "This is only one of them."

She kissed Steven on the forehead granting him a vision of one of those futures. He saw every last terrifying detail, from the deaths of Cap & Strange, to Thanos shattering Yellow & snapping his fingers, to his idols like Captain Marvel, Ant-Man, Hulk & Quicksilver and even friends like Amethyst, Lapis, Bismuth and Connie fading into dust.

"We've got to make sure that good future is this one." the boy resolved after the end of the vision. "But that still leaves the question of what happens in the now?"

"I know, because I can hear it." Steve stated gazing up at the sky as clouds began to form. "Hear what?" Yellow wondered and the captain only said one word.

"Thunder."

A bolt of lightning struck down on the battlefield, incinerating all of Thanos's minions who dared near it and Mjolnir came flying out of it, taking down the rest before it returned to the grasp of Thor himself, along with Iron Man, Pearl, Rocket, Bismuth, Groot, Lapis and Peridot, who was piloting their self-proclaimed godkiller using her ferrokinesis. The godkiller in question was built out of the Red King's warsuit for the main body and both a repulsor gauntlet & a copy of the Breaking Point as its weapons.

Thanos stood in awe but was still sadistically eager to find a new foe as Peridot took the first step. "Hey Thanos, come and fight us you clod!" the little Gem screamed charging into battle with the others following suit, requesting that they have words with him.

With a mighty yell, Peridot stabbed multiple of the titan's armies with the Breaking Point and blasting the rest with the repulsor gauntlet. Meanwhile Rocket rode on Bismuth's back shooting all that would try to cross their path. "Y'know, maybe Peridot ain't as bad as I thought!" the blacksmith commented doing most of the physical fighting for Rocket.

"Yeah yeah, great big guy! Now throw me, I always wanted to try this!" Rocket shouted and she obliged, tossing the furry mercenary into the air as he fired at will before landing on the ground. "You gotta make me one of those Breaking Points sometime! There's some scores I need to settle."

"Uh, how about no?" Bismuth nervously answered before smacking an Outrider in the face from behind. "Haha, oh you're gonna get me one someday!" Rocket declared as he went off on his own.

"So I take it that's our cue to lead them all?" Yellow asked stepping out of hiding. "You bet it is! Ready Cap?" Steven boldly proclaimed turning to his hero. "Right Steven. On my mark!" Rogers stated and they both raised their shields to the air with a mighty battle cry of "Ultimate Alliance, assemble!"

"So this is where our final bout begins?" Thanos wondered preparing to use one of the Infinity Stones. "Very well then!"

With a clench of his fist, all time around him screeched to a halt and everybody frozen in place. Thanos took these precious moments to examine the uneasy collaboration that had assembled to eliminate him and began contemplating. "Who would've guessed the Crystal Gems would ally themselves with their former homeworld to stop me?" he muttered in deep thought. "It's like Kronos said, even he didn't see this coming despite being the god of time. Still, it seems most of them weren't as insignificant as I thought."

Stepping toward the frozen Peridot and Lapis, the dark lord continued monologuing. "Despite her small stature, the Peridot is much more intelligent than I gave her credit for. And her terraforming comrade is unbelievably strong to compliment her." Then he stepped forward to find Connie fighting alongside Ms. Marvel, War Machine, Black Panther & Falcon. "This human on the other hand I'm quite surprised by. I didn't realize she'd be worthy to wield that sword."

After some silence, Thanos clenched his fist and restored time to normal, to the confusion of the Alliance. "I'm sorry, what just happened?!" Connie exclaimed. "It must be the Time Stone! He's using all six of them against us, we have to stop him before he tries another one!" Doctor Strange exclaimed but he was too late, as Thanos made another clench and a wave of red washed over them, changing them into more unusual appearances.

"Good Lord, what's with all this gold?!" Tony asked examining the current state of his armor. "At least you look somewhat normal, look at me!" Pearl exclaimed gesturing to her much more drastically different appearance. "I mean, my skin is all blue, my nose isn't as prominent, and look at my outfit!"

"You're right Pearl, you look terrible!" Rocket cackled rolling on the ground, now wearing a green outfit while Groot looked more monstrous than normal. "Behold, I am Groot the invincible! Who dares to defy me!" the tree monster declared speaking more than just 'I am Groot' this time around.

"I preferred you more when you only said three words." Gamora snarked. "Gamora, can you please cover up? There are children here." Garnet asked remarking on the warrior's now more revealing outfit while stroking her now longer, less square hair.

"Would anyone be so kind as to stop Thanos from doing this to us? I seriously would prefer not lookin' like a male stripper!" Yondu exclaimed bringing attention to his equally revealing get-up. "HULK SMASH STUPID COSTUME MAKER!" a grayer Hulk roared charging toward Thanos and tackling him, ending the illusion and returning everyone to normal.

"Oh finally, I thought I was going live with those awful boots forever!" Thor let out a sigh of relief as he was restored to his regular appearance. "Seriously, why the tiger pattern?" Lapis wondered to which her Asgardian friend replied with "I was going through a phase."

"We can discuss questionable fashion choices later, look!" Yellow Diamond shouted pointing at Thanos, who had now freed himself from the Hulk's grasp and slowly marched toward the champions with a stoic expression and prepared to try the Gauntlet again. "With our combined strength, we can stop him!"

Yellow then fired an energy blast at Thanos, followed by Blue Diamond, Doctor Strange, Vision, Starfox, Iron Man, Lapis, Silver Surfer, Thor, Scarlet Witch, Captain Marvel and War Machine joining her in trying to push the titan back.

But he remained unaffected, using the Power Stone to project an energy barrier and continued stepping forth closer to the thirteen before smashing his golden fist to the ground and creating shockwaves that knocked every last one of them down. "You thought more would be merrier, but allow me to provide a counterargument." Thanos declared making the Soul & Mind Stones glow before he suddenly vanished into thin air.

"W-where did he go?" Connie wondered confused at what Thanos had just done. Suddenly, she dodged an attack by what seemed to be the Mad Titan himself, but he looked much different. He was now more skinny and had the Mind Stone in his forehead, not unlike Pearl.

Then more Thanos lookalikes spawned and attacked. One had a physique similar to Garnet and had the Space Stone in his left hand. Another was as tall as Amethyst and had the Power Stone adorning his chest. A third was as slender as Lapis complete with the Reality Stone on his back forming a pair of wings. Fourthly was a smaller Thanos clone around Peridot's height who had an Infinity Stone in his forehead as well, this one being the Time Stone.

And finally was a Thanos double who had a shield just like Steven's and wore armor on his torso that exposed the Soul Stone on his stomach. "You say the people of your world believe in you Crystal Gems, but will they remember you?" he questioned as the other stone clones made their move.

"Insolent coward, you aren't fighting for that blasted Earth or your fellow Gems, you're simply fighting to live!" the Thanos that embodied the Reality Stone scolded Lapis turning much of her water into insects that began crawling all over her. "I can run away sometimes, but this time I'm not running away from you!" the terraformer declared forming her water into ice and stabbing her opponent through his chest, poofing him as if he were an actual gem.

Meanwhile, Peridot faced the personification of the Time Stone who had now formed limb enhancers of his own to gain an edge. "You can run from your past all you want, but at the end of the road your destiny shall come!" he declared blasting her out of the godkiller & sending her flying until she grabbed her mech at the last moment, making it tip over and crush the Thanos clone.

"Well you can kiss my gravity connector big boy!" Peridot boasted before pulling down an eyelid with a taunting "Nyeh!"

"Love can sometimes be your greatest weakness my dear fusion!" the Space Stone claimed catching a punch from Garnet. "Nobody had ever given me that, so no one else shall-" He was quickly silenced by Garnet who squeezed his head with her free hand and took the poofed Infinity Stone. "And you thought you were stronger than me."

Amethyst & Pearl fought their respective counterparts, that being the Power & Mind Stones. Unlike their usually clashing personalities, the Infinity Stones fought and spoke in literal perfect harmony. "True harmony is the key to success." they declared in unison. "If you do nothing but argue, then your fate is as good as sealed."

"Y'know speaking of harmony, I think it's time we brought a certain someone back into the fold." Amethyst remarked with a knowing wink toward Pearl. "What do you mean? Oh right, Opal!" Pearl suddenly realized. "It's just been so long since we last formed her, I've almost forgotten what it feels like."

"What are they doing?!" Power & Mind exclaimed before they paid witness to the return of the archer fusion Opal, her steely gaze piercing straight through their forms and her bow at the ready. "Any last words guys?" she chuckled readying her arrows. They didn't even get a chance to speak before being put down by the tall fusion who then defused back into Pearl & Amethyst.

"My comrades may have been eliminated, but the same shall happen to yours." the embodiment of the Soul Stone declared summoning the other stones to his side and fusing them all with himself, restoring Thanos to his whole self. "What else can you throw at me boy?" he challenged Steven. Then suddenly, he felt his arms being tied down by two sets of ropes. Turning his head from left to right, he found his bare right hand restrained by Amethyst's whips & Doctor Strange's Crimson Chains of Cyttorak and the other covered in his Gauntlet by water chains and web lines.

"We're holding him down guys, now!" Spider-Man exclaimed before Garnet pounced Thanos, locking his head between her legs. Meanwhile Pearl & Bismuth gravely injured his bottom half with their respective weapons making him wince in anguish. "You got nowhere to run now Thanos. Either drop the stones & come quietly or face much bloodier consequences." Thor announced. "Like that one for example."

Peridot, now back in her godkiller, leaped high into the air ready to stab him with the Breaking Point and finish him once and for all. With a mighty jab, the weapon's silver point wedged itself deep into Thanos's torso.

"Who's the comic relief now Thanos?!" the little Gem snarled driving the weapon deeper, making the titan scream in pain. However in the midst of his crippling pain, Thanos clenched his fist and used the Power Stone to send everyone flying, freeing him from their grasp and his death.

"Peridot." Thanos groaned using the Time Stone to heal all his wounds. "You are indeed correct, you're aren't as much of a buffoon as I believed you were." Stomping toward the damaged godkiller, he ripped Peridot out of its remains, leaving her legs scrambling around trying to flee.

The technician thought this could be the end of her, but instead of being shattered, she was instead gently seated on the ground with a tousle of her tetrahedral hair. "When I am done, only half of your comrades shall remain." the titan assured her. "I hope they remember you."

With that, Thanos turned his gaze toward the Diamonds. "But first, I have a score to settle with the both of you!" he declared. "I have tried to make peace all those thousands of years ago with Pink Diamond, yet your kind has refused to answer my pleas. For both that and your betrayal, I have no choice but to execute you."

"What gave you the right to think you're strong enough to destroy us?!" Yellow cried preparing to strike Thanos down where he stood with her lightning. "This is for Pink you monster!" She stuck out her hand and zapped him, hoping to at least knock him unconscious but instead, Thanos condensed the energy into a sphere in his hand. "Is that the best you got?"

With that, Thanos tossed the sphere at Yellow Diamond and electrocuted her, knocking the dictator to the ground barely clinging on to her physical form while she still could. "Oh my stars my Diamond!" her Pearl shouted rushing to her superior's side. "Please tell me you'll be all right!"

"I'll be fine Pearl," Yellow groaned. "it's just that fighting Thanos took quite a lot out of me. I think I'm just going to lay down here for a while." she stated.

"Two Diamonds down, two more to go." Thanos declared showing Yellow Pearl out of the way to step on Yellow's torso and preparing to smash her gem. "Even Diamonds should beware when bargaining with Thanos of Titan." Suddenly a wave of blue washed over Battleworld, bringing most of the Gems present to tears to the confusion of the superheroes.

"Hulk don't get it? Why everybody crying?" Hulk wondered just as confused as his fellow Avengers. "I believe this is called pathokinesis Dr. Banner, aka the ability to control one's emotions." Silver Surfer explained to the goliath. "And it seems to be coming from a mourning, yet absolutely furious source."

Thanos was quietly confused for a few moments, wondering why his crystalline opponents had dropped down in tears before immediately realizing what was happening. A positively livid Blue Diamond standing right behind him, and all Thanos felt was pure, unadulterated fear as the Diamond cast a gigantic shadow.

"Your reign of terror has come to an end Thanos!" she yelled, her voice much more menacing than her usual soft tone. "Come, answer for your crimes against all Gems!"

"I expected Yellow to be my first victim, but you shall provide a worthy substitute!" Thanos challenged her making the Stones glow. "Come and get me!" he shouted. Blue complied by spawning an orb of light that blasted him at full force with a hail of lasers, but the titan remained unharmed as he charged at full speed before propelling himself to meet the Diamond's gaze. The two of them clashed fists, sending shockwaves all across the patchwork planet and kept on brawling.

"Is that how strong a Diamond is?! Have to say, I'm impressed." Captain America stated with a grin. "We gotta get outta here, this hunk 'a rock could go all Alderaan on us any moment now!" Star-Lord panicked just as they saw Thanos being tossed across the warzone right into his statue, making it fall over backwards.

Miraculously, Thanos survived long enough to find Blue Diamond on the ground still righteously mad. "I am not done yet." Blue coughed barely getting up. "You will pay for everything you have done to us, our home and our people!" she cried. "Then what are you waiting for? Go on and finish me so that I can be with Death." Thanos beckoned her to land the final blow, eager to be united with his lover for all eternity. But instead, he punched her square in her gem, cracking it and knocking her back as well.

"Oh no, Blue Diamond!" Steven exclaimed trying to rush to the Diamond's side before Lapis grabbed onto the back of his shirt. "Steven, I know you're a really nice guy, but can you leave Blue Diamond like this? I'm sure she's suffered worse." the water Gem tried to convince him, not even realizing he was gone before it was too late.

"There you go, now find Yellow Diamond and a place to hide." Steven ordered Blue healing her gem with his spit. "W-why thank you little one." the Diamond said graciously. "You know, you kind of remind me of Pink Diamond in a way." Steven knew this was a good time to reveal the truth, but simply decided not to as Blue ran off to search for her sister.

"If I cannot shatter any Diamond today, then I guess all that I have killed throughout our battles will have to suffice." Thanos mused before Steven stepped up in front of him. "But why?! What do you want to gain from killing so many people across the universe?"

"Simple Steven, to save the universe and win the affections of Lady Death." the Mad Titan answered. "She told me that this universe was growing far too big. Too much of everyone, not enough to supply them." As evil as Thanos was, he did indeed have a point. "You mortals pride yourself on your resources to survive, yet time and again you waste them either for your own selfish gain or to destroy all who stand in your way."

"So basically you're planning on 'saving the environment' in your own twisted way? Yeah, that sounds pretty accurate." Amethyst chimed in. "And then when the dust settles and all is well, I plan on perhaps taking up agriculture." Thanos continued. "But you can do that right now. Just take off the Gauntlet and we can take you back to Earth to start your own farm." Steven said. "I'm pretty sure that with time, Peridot & Lapis would love to have you as a roommate!"

The boy's words fell on deaf ears as Thanos simply didn't pay attention to him, instead turning to Lady Death. "What do you say my bride? Will the carnage witnessed here in this war be enough to suffice our shared philosophy?" he asked the deity, grasping her hand and his knee on the ground.

However, just when it seemed like Death was finally going to answer him after so long, it instead turned out to be one word that ensured that from here on out, everything was on a dangerous roller coaster ride to Hell. "No."

This was something Thanos had never heard her say to him before, which made something inside him snap before roaring at the top of his lungs. "SO AFTER ALL THIS TIME, ALL YOU SAY IS NO?!" he screamed. "WELL IF I CAN'T HAVE YOU, THEN NO ONE ELSE IN THIS BLASTED UNIVERSE CAN!" The Infinity Stones then began to tear the universe apart in his fury as he used the Space and Power Stones to pulverize the surface of Battleworld's moon, revealing none other than the Cluster underneath. "Now you hideous geoweapon, kill them all!"

He tossed the ball of Gem shards down to Battleworld in an effort to destroy the Alliance, but was stopped by Starfox who struggled to keep it from crashing. "Listen bro, she's never going to love you!" the Eternal groaned continuing to keep it above the ground. "Just stand down or there's gonna be big-"

Before Eros could finish, Thanos instantly turned him into a stone statue before turning to the rest of the champions and charged toward them. "Steven, watch out!" Bismuth shouted trying to save the son of her former leader and put herself in Thanos's path, poofing her. In a blind fury, the Titan fired a gigantic energy blast at Nebula that nearly disintegrated her before she made one last effort to kill her abusive adoptive father by throwing a dagger at him.

Thanos tore the dagger out of his torso & tossed it at Loki, stabbing him in the head and the god fell to the ground dead. "NOOOOO!" Thor and Gamora cried for their adopted siblings and tried to get revenge on Thanos. But his rage made him too powerful for just two beings to take on and within moments, they were on the ground horrendously injured.

"What do we do now?!" Hawkeye exclaimed ducking for cover. "Simple, we try fusion!" Garnet commanded. "Steven, Amethyst, you try and stop Thanos! Pearl, you and me form Sardonyx to calm the Cluster!"

"You got it!" the two short Gems saluted before they held hands and formed the portly fusion known as Smokey Quartz. "A human and a Gem?! How?" Natasha wondered. "We'll explain later, just let me take care of the grape for a while." Smokey answered before they charged at Thanos. "Hey wrinkle-chin, you feeling a little grounded?"

Thanos turned to Smokey Quartz with a loud snarl. "Looks like you need some fresh air!" they joked tying him up with their yo-yos and tossing him around. "Hopefully you don't get dizzy!" However, their puns ended when Thanos shouted "Silence you brats!" and grabbed the yo-yos, the power of the Space Stone pulsing down the ropes before reaching Smokey Quartz, defusing them back into Steven & Amethyst.

As Steven fell to the ground and raced to heal Thor & Gamora, he could hear the Cluster crying for help in his mind. "Please...help...us!" the shards all begged. "Thanos...making us...his slaves!"

"I know what you are saying Cluster, but frankly you are too late." Thanos declared popping the bubble the Cluster was held in and unleashing the beast within. However, the forced fusion could barely recognize Steven and gave what he could make out as a thumbs up before it plucked Thanos off the ground. "What are you doing?!" the Mad Titan shouted being dragged & tossed around by the superweapon. "You are supposed to be my secret weapon!"

"S-Steven...saved us! A-a-and we're returning the f-favor!" the Cluster exclaimed before it threw him in Sardonyx's path, in which she hit him with his hammer. "Thanks for the lift there big boy!" the eccentric showman fusion thanked it before she pounded Thanos to the ground.

"You shall all pay for this!" the titan declared and he snapped his fingers, causing the Cluster to start glowing. "Someone...s-save us!" they cried out before exploding, making Gem shards rain all over Battleworld.

"Did he really do that?!" Amethyst wondered as the shards fell from the sky. "And this is mine! This is mine too! Y'know what, all of these are mine! Gonna make me a fortune." she heard Rocket mutter while he caught whatever shards he could grab. "Y'know what, the Diamonds can take those Rose Quartzes back because I got's me a new venture!"

"Rocket." Steven said glaring at the raccoon. "Okay okay, sheesh. Excuse me for wanting to make money." Rocket groaned dropping an entire armful of shards to the ground, but not before sneakily scooping a small amount of them up with his tail.

"How's the view from down there big guy?!" Sardonyx called to Thanos with a hearty laugh, but the titan roared and fired another blast, ending her & turning her back into Garnet & Pearl.

"Don't worry, Hulk got you two!" Hulk cried holding out his arms to save the two Gems before they landed in his giant green hands. "Thanks for the lift Banner." Pearl thanked. "No problem bird lady." Bruce replied. "But what can Gems do now?"

With a snap of her fingers, Garnet knew what to do now. "Sugillite." she stated with a grin before leaping out of Hulk's grasp and standing next to Amethyst. "Sugillite?" the defective Quartz said before they danced and became Sugillite. "Hey Thanos, you want some of me creep?!"

"We should help out too!" Connie suggested grabbing Steven's hand. "Right, come on out Stevonnie!" Steven exclaimed and they formed the fusion in question with Steven's shield & Connie's sword in hand. "Everybody behind me!" they commanded charging toward Thanos alongside the other champions, including a now out of hiding Yellow & Blue Diamond.

Unfortunately, they proved to be too weak for Thanos who knocked most of them all down before moving onto Stevonnie. "You won't stop us when we're fused Thanos!" they declared, but they were wrong. Thanos grabbed both of them by the arms and slowly tore them apart, forcing them back into Steven & Connie. "As a matter of fact, I can."

"Kids, let's try Stevoter!" Star-Lord cried and the two children agreed, racing into the space captain's arms & forming the part-Gem, part-human & part-Spartaxian fusion. "Ah sweet, laser sword is back baby!" Stevoter cheered charging toward Thanos in a bid to stop him while firing from their laser sword.

"Need a lift?" Garnet suggested running alongside Stevoter. "You bet your ass we do!" they replied. "You try and get the Gauntlet offa Thanos and we'll handle the rest!" With that, Stevoter stabbed Thanos in the torso while Garnet tried to remove the Infinity Gauntlet off his hand. "How do you like me now?!" they shouted bashing the titan in the face with their Walkman shield, making it play various songs to further annoy him.

"Boast all you want mortal, you're simply just pestering me!" Thanos boomed grabbing the sword by its blade and slowly removing it from his chest. "I know what game you're playing Steven. This is just a distraction while one of your lackeys takes away my gauntlet."

"Wait, how did you know?!" Stevoter exclaimed in fear. "This has happened to me before, and I shall not let it happen again." Thanos declared, and with one last blast from the almost-removed Gauntlet, defused Stevoter & Garnet down to their base beings.

Tumbling down on the ground, a now scruffled-up Steven found a barely conscious Captain America struggling to get up. "Cap! Don't worry, I got you!" he cried licking his hand to heal his idol. "Thank you very much Steven, but I feel like your mom's powers won't be enough for us here." Rogers stated getting up on one knee. "I've heard from the Gems about how you often feel inferior to Rose because of how much she's done for the Earth. I feel you on that one. Sometimes I feel that I'm just lost in a world that I'm no longer apart of, yearning for a good fight to keep myself away from living a normal life."

"Why is that? You seem pretty fine now." Steven said before the captain stopped him. "You only don't understand because you're still a kid. Me, I've lost almost everyone while I was in the Arctic." he continued. "And as for parents, I'm pretty sure most of us can relate. Like for example, there's all the stories that Thor can tell us about his old man. But you, you're different. Rose may have done some questionable things in the past but you can change that by being your own Gem, whether it be a quartz or a diamond." Steve then held out his hand with a smile. "So then, are you ready honorary Avenger?"

With tears filling the stars in his eyes, Steven took his hero's hand. "I'm ready Captain." the boy accepted before he hugged the captain, and he returned it causing them both to glow. Everyone else still present watched in awe as the shining mass grew larger and formed into a heroic, stalwart figure with a gaze of solid steel directed straight at Thanos.

"Steven..." Pearl gasped in sheer wonder. "Steve..." Bucky added just as stunned. Thanos simply frowned at the sight of this new fighter, wearing a pink version of Captain America's costume with a yellow star on the chest, blue trousers, red sandal boots and carrying Steven's shield. "W-what? Did we just fuse?" the new fusion gasped in astonishment. "Well, no time to contemplate now!"

"W-who are you?!" Thanos shouted as the fusion stepped forward while picking up a discarded Mjolnir from the ground. He then took a battle stance with the shield and hammer at the ready with a confident smirk on his face. "Call me the Captain."

With a cry of "CHARGING STAR!", the Captain bolted toward Thanos at hypersonic speeds, bashing him in the face with his shield. "STARS AND STRIPES!" he added uppercutting the titan, sending him flying long enough to give orders to the others. "Fallback company, I can handle things from here!"

"Wait, we can help!" Peridot exclaimed. "I SAID FALLBACK COMPANY!" the Captain reiterated yelling. The rest of the Alliance nodded and retreated, leaving the Captain alone with Thanos, who was busy recovering from the earlier uppercut. "Is that truly the best you can do? I'd like to see you try harder!" he shouted gesturing the fusion to bring it on. The Captain simply responded by putting up his fists and declaring "I could do this all day."

With a single bound, the Captain rocketed high into the air and zoomed downwards with Mjolnir ready to pummel Thanos. When the Asgardian hammer connected to the Mad Titan's face, the result was a quick but massive thunderstorm that erupted all across Battleworld. Storm clouds began to form over the two before it began raining.

Meanwhile far off in the distance, the rest of the Ultimate Alliance watched in awe of the final struggle between life & death. "Wait, Cap's just a human! How is he able to hold Mjolnir?" Amethyst asked Thor. "It's very simple Amethyst, he possesses a pure heart, noble mind and the spirit of a warrior. Forever courageous and with a sense of humility." Thor explained. "And it's possible Steven himself might be worthy as well."

The two continued going at it like a furious pair of rival wrestlers or predators fighting over their prey, the Captain continuing to whale on Thanos with Mjolnir & both of his fusees' shields. Suddenly Thanos grabbed the Captain by the arm and flung him into the ground, losing his grasp on the hammer. "You're getting closer to the edge, yet you still refuse to yield." the titan muttered towering over his fallen opponent before walking away. "Wait here, allow me to retrieve the Gauntlet so that I can properly execute you."

"NEVER!" the Captain screamed immediately getting up like he wasn't even hurt at all. "I won't let you hurt anyone else, whether they be my friends or anyone in our universe!" he shouted clenching his fist. "I'm giving everything I've got into this one last punch, so you better watch yourself!"

Thanos said no words, instead pulling out his stasis gun in response to the fusion's last stand. The Captain charged at him with full force, teeth gritted and his fist preparing to attack. The spirit of all his comrades flowed through him, giving him even greater strength than before as their attacks collided.

" **FINAL...UNYIELDING...JUSTICE!** "

As a result of the Captain's punch going inside the stasis gun's barrel as Thanos fired, a gigantic explosion erupted dispersing the storm and attracting the attention of the Alliance. "I think that was Thanos's stasis gun!" Gamora exclaimed before Pearl shoved her out of the way. "Steven!" she cried as the champions all rushed to the duo's side.

When the dust finally settled, all that was left were Steven, Captain America and Thanos all lying down on the ground. "H-h-he's dead! Thanos is finally dead!" Thor exclaimed taking back Mjolnir. "Let's just check to be sure." Natasha suggested just as their leaders awakened. "What happened? Am I dead?" Steven asked before Connie hugged him. "I guess I'm not, because you're here!"

"So it's finally over, huh? A bit anti-climatic if I say so myself." Bucky remarked helping his best friend up. "Let's not speak so soon. Look!" Steve stated, bringing attention to Thanos slowly rising from the ground, his stasis gun now reduced to hunks of metal and face enraged beyond recognition. "I've had enough of all this! Once I regain my gauntlet, you will all pay for disgracing me!"

However, where Thanos expected to find the Infinity Gauntlet, he instead touched nothing. "Where is it?! Where's the Gauntlet?!" he screamed desperately searching for it. That was when he heard someone slip it on and turned to realize who that was.

It was none other than Steven.

Steven felt himself surging with power over the entire universe, literally obtaining the ability to do as he pleased with the Infinity Gauntlet. Everybody gazed in shock and awe at the very sight of this one mortal boy carrying the single most powerful weapon in all of the universe, most notably Thanos who's astonishment turned to glee. "Yes, yes! This is just what I wanted!" he cheered in malicious joy. "A young apprentice to turn into my successor! What are you waiting for Steven, erase them all and we can ravage the universe as father & son!"

Steven was put in a moral dilemma for a moment. On one hand, he couldn't bring himself to kill Thanos for that would betray his principles. On the other, he can't allow the titan to run free and wreak havoc across the cosmos. There had to be another way to keep Thanos in check without having to hurt him. Then with a bold, stern look on his face, he made his decision. "No."

With a click of his fingers, things felt like they were being set right.

Back on Earth, Lapis & Peridot's barn and Pink Diamond's palanquin were restored to their former states.

All the planets Thanos had destroyed were pieced back together, including Homeworld, and the villains he had made join him resurrected. The cosmic deities were also brought back as well.

A few bits of orange dust scattered about were brought together and formed into Jasper's gemstone, which was then immediately bubbled and sent back to Earth.

Loki woke up to find he was now alive once more and the knife in his head gone. "What just happened?" he wondered before spying Nebula and even the Black Order revived as well. "D-did he really do it?"

All of the Gem shards that made up the Cluster were reassembled and returned to their place within the Earth. Starfox let out a loud gasp as he felt himself rebuilt and un-petrified. "That's some kid." he remarked with a grin.

Finally, Thanos felt himself turning to stone from the feet up and grinned at Steven. "So this is how it must end child. I must say, you made the right choice." he stated. "I hope we shall meet again someday Steven Universe. I hope they remember you." With one last satisfied grin, Thanos accepted his fate and let out a bright flash of light.

The explosive flash blinded everyone momentarily. But even when their vision cleared, none are quite sure they should believe what their eyes see. Before them had stood Thanos, proud, powerful, ruthless and near heartbeats from victory. Now in that exact same thought moments later, stood the massive titan transformed into solid granite.

With one last thought, Steven also spawned a black hole to get rid of Battleworld, sucking in the petrified Thanos as well potentially sending him drifting through parts unknown. Then the boy felt himself getting dizzy. "Oh, I don't feel so good. I think I'm gonna need to sit down."

"We can rest later, we gotta vamoose!" Amethyst exclaimed. "Indeed, but what of the Infinity Stones?" Loki asked. "I suggest we divide them amongst ourselves so that they never fall into evil hands again." Thor suggested. "The Crystal Gems shall keep the Mind Stone while Lapis & Peridot shall take the Reality Stone."

The Gems carefully removed their chosen stones from the Gauntlet, giving them to Steven & Peridot to bubble. "Meanwhile, the Avengers shall keep watch over the Space Stone, the Guardians get the Power Stone, Homeworld takes the Soul Stone and finally, Starfox shall keep the Time Stone."

"Pearl, please remove the Soul Stone from the Gauntlet for me." Blue Diamond ordered her Pearl. "Yes my Diamond." Blue Pearl complied walking up to the intergalactic weapon to collect the Soul Stone and the others soon followed, also making sure to bubble Bismuth's gem and the Gauntlet itself back to Earth. "So that's it then, we're some kind of Infinity Watch." Starfox commented. "I can roll with that."

"Well what are we waiting for, let's move!" Spider-Man exclaimed racing to the Milano. "Apologies everyone, but I feel your ship may be way too small for us." Yellow Diamond stated. "We shall be returning with our own ships." With a single stretch of her arm, a much larger yellow arm appeared alongside a blue one. "I believe this is where we must say farewell."

"Bye guys!" Steven exclaimed waving goodbye before Peridot shushed him and dragged him back to the Milano. "Farewell Crystal Gems." Blue Diamond said her goodbyes. "But next time we shall meet, it will be as enemies."

Garnet and Lapis shivered at their former Diamond's threat before the Black Order appeared behind them. "Pardon us for the intrusion, but could we perhaps hitch a ride with you?" Ebony Maw asked politely, much to their chagrin. But they still had to be alive for them to eventually be put away.

"One side maggot, I gotta fly this thing!" Rocket shouted shoving Peridot out of the way as everybody still present clambered into the Milano. "Okay, you don't have to be so rude about it!" Peridot exclaimed letting Rocket sit down. "All right, everyone hold on!"

With that, the spaceship finally took off leaving Battleworld behind as it was fully devoured by the black hole, and started coming close to sucking them in as well. "You got anything that can make us go faster?!" Star-Lord exclaimed. "Makes me really wish this piece of junk came with ludicrous speed!"

"Well, I guess this is the end." Pearl stated accepting their fate. "Any final words before we're all sucked in?" she asked the others. "I got just one." Amethyst answered. "Look!" She pointed at a certain red figure that had appeared in front of the Milano's large window. "Well, I see you're all fine and dandy after defeating Thanos like that." Mephisto commented. "Here, let me repay you for doing so."

The demon started waving his hands in a pattern that caused a hellish portal to appear around the Milano, spooking the Crystal Gems. "What's going on, what's he gonna do to us?!" Steven cried. "Fear not, I recognize those hand motions from anywhere." Doctor Strange stated. "He is perhaps creating a portal for us to return to Earth safely."

"But why? He's freaking Mephisto!" Parker shouted. "It's like he said, this must be his way of thanking us for taking care of Thanos for him." Kamala chimed in when they all felt the craft rumble. "Oh no, brace yourselves!"

Steven and Connie closed their eyes tight and held each other close, fearing the worst as the starry background of space was replaced by pure red.

* * *

Before any of them knew it, they could hear the calm ocean waves and seagulls squawking over them. This had to be it.

They were finally home.

There was no doubt, only Earth could have a combination of those calming sounds. There was dead silence between the heroes as they departed the Milano with the Black Order still onboard. It only took a few days to struggle against Thanos, but it felt like years.

Suddenly, all the people of Beach City came stampeding toward them, happy that their beloved Gems were in one piece. There were reunions all around. Connie's parents were ecstatic that their daughter was alive, Pumpkin raced into Peridot's arms and Greg brought Steven in for the first hug he had received from his dad in days.

The townsfolk were also excited to meet the Guardians again and even more joyous to see the Avengers with selfies & autographs aplenty.

"So little guy, how do you feel about your first Avengers mission?" Iron Man asked Steven. "It was awesome! I really hope we can do something like this again soon!" the boy answered excitedly. "I have to agree. It was nice seeing Rogers & Barnes again." Pearl added. "And it was also nice to meet all of you too."

"Oh speaking of which, still have to ask." the captain remarked. "Do you still want to become Avengers?" he asked. "No, I think we're fine here in Beach City." Connie answered. "That reminds me," Amethyst declared pulling out her Avengers ID and breaking it in two. "I quit."

"I suppose it's because the Crystal Gems are still your home?" Black Widow wondered. "Yeah, that's exactly what I was gonna say!" the small quartz replied. "It was fun being one of Earth's mightiest heroes, but the real heroes to me are my family."

"So be it then." Thor said. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to bring Loki back to Asgard." he announced pointing to his brother, now rolling his eyes with a scoff. "As much as I hate to say this boy, thank you for bringing me back to life."

"And if you'll excuse us, we also gotta go fork the Black Order over to Xandar." Star-Lord added. "I hope one day we can all meet again!" Mantis replied excitedly. "What about you Eros?"

"Well, I've got nowhere else to go right about now. Mind if I tag along with you a-holes?" Starfox asked. "Sure, the more the merrier!" Yondu accepted the offer. "Though I think at this rate we might need a bigger ship."

"Hey, mind dropping me off at Westchester on the way back? I think Chuck might want me for something." Wolverine asked his fellow Avengers. "We'll make a note of it Logan." Clint answered before they all turned to the Gems. "And we'll make a note to-"

"See us again! We get it!" Peridot interrupted with a goofy grin. "All right then, Avengers back to base." Steve commanded, then he turned to his crystal comrades. "And here's an Avengers ID. Just in case, if you need us, we promise we'll be there."

"Thank you Cap." Steven said gratefully. As everybody parted ways, Thor & Loki to Asgard, the Guardians to Xandar, Silver Surfer to parts unknown & the Avengers back to their home city, Steven looked at the ID he was given and smiled, knowing that this was an opportunity for more marvelous adventures to come.

* * *

 _And that, after many months of waiting, is the conclusion of Secret Wars! Thank you all so much so sticking by me and stick around til the end of the author's notes for a few special Marvel-style surprises. I've already got a whole 'nother trilogy in the works and hopefully you love it as much as Clod on the Run & this one, which I officially dub the Guardians Trilogy. Until we meet again true believers, adios!_

* * *

"CRYSTAL GEMS RETURN!" the headlines of the Daily Bugle read, much to the chagrin of the Absorbing Man and his partner Titania as they were imprisoned on Ryker's Island. Carl tore the newspaper into paper scraps in a blind fury while Mary nonchalantly filed her nails. "Oh I'd love to get some payback against those crystal chumps, especially their brat!"

"Oh chill out Creel. It's not like someone is going to just waltz in and offer us a chance at that." Titania responded before they heard a guard step in. "Creel, MacPherran, you got a visitor!" he shouted motioning for a silver-haired man to enter. When he met the gaze of the two criminals, he smiled and handed them a case file with a lightning bolt symbol on the tab.

"I am Truman Marsh. I have a proposition for you."

* * *

Far across the country back in Beach City, Steven slept peacefully in his bed for the first time in ages with the Avengers ID given to him kept on his nightstand. He thought he was going to sleep easy tonight when he opened his eyes to find himself in the same black void that he had met Thanos in in his dreams.

Fortunately, the Mad Titan wasn't there to greet him. "Greetings son of Pink Diamond." the voice of Lady Death said, much to the boy's surprise. "How did you know?" he asked. "Didn't Thanos tell you child? I know the name of every soul who has lived, died and ever will be. Yet when Pink Diamond was 'shattered', I didn't see her move into the afterlife."

Suddenly a toilet started flushing and out of a door came a man in a red-and-black suit clutching his stomach in pain. "Oh God, definitely not eating 372,844 chimichangas in under an hour ever again!" he moaned collapsing on the ground. "Still better than those forty cakes. That is as many as four tens, and that's terrible."

"Uh, who are you?" Steven asked squinting his right eye in confusion. "Aw goddammit! If I'm gonna cross over with Steven Universe, does that mean I have to resist the fanbase as well?!" the man shouted in disgust before looking at you, the audience. "And what are you still doing here? It's over, click away! Go find some Amedot or Stony fic to read!"

* * *

The Crystal Gems will return.


End file.
